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Dream gritted his teeth behind his cracked mask, seeing the small battalion advance towards his group. He looked back. The Eggpire, coerced into submission. Bad, Ant, Punz. Hannah. She was new, and so easy to break.
He had thought the same of Ranboo.
But now Ranboo stood beside Tommy, leading a large group to kill them all, or at very least lock him back up again; he wasn’t unaware of the handcuffs on Sam’s belt.
“Ranboo.” He shouted out, voice volleying through the space. Tommy’s nostrils flared, but Ranboo held up a hand; the people behind him shuffled to a halt.
“Ranboo.” Dream repeated, making eye contact. “Come back, Ranboo. It’s not too late. We forgive you, right, guys?” The Eggpire nodded and muttered soft agreement. “We don’t blame you for what you did. I did that. I made you do that. Haven’t you seen it in their eyes? I see it now. The way they look at your back as you lead them into battle, staring daggers straight through. You killed their friend to them, forever, no matter what you or they say. You’ll never escape it.
You’ll always have killed Tubbo.”
Ranboo blanched at the last line, shaking as black started spreading across his body. Tommy grabbed his arm, trying to hold him back, but his hand phased through him; the boy stared in shock.
“Ranboo.” Phil’s voice was even and low. “Stand back, mate. It’s okay.” Ranboo shuddered, turning around, and for a fleeting moment Phil felt a spike of true fear. His eyes were black, with only purple slits in the middle to show that they weren’t just endlessly stretching voids.
Ranboo turned back around and took a step forward. Tommy followed.
Puffy laid a hand on Tommy’s shoulder, lightly drawing him back.
“Isn’t that right, Ranboo?” Dream crooned, voice soft. “They’re afraid of you. Angry and bitter. I can feel it, your awareness. You know.”
“He’s lying.” Sam started, but with one raised hand Ranboo brought him up short.
“Ranboo.” Dream said again, almost singing. Ranboo, shaking, took another step. “Take aim.” He muttered out of the corner of his mouth, and Punz subtly tightened his grip on his bow. “Now is the time to choose!” He shouted, addressing the boy once again. “Whaddya say?”
Ranboo took a deep breath and looked Dream dead in the eyes.
“I have nothing to say to you.”
He tensed to leap forward, but with a nod from Dream, Punz’s arrow flew and hit true, thudding into his chest with a thunking noise. Ranboo collapsed onto the ground.
The world exploded around them. Sam whistled, and from the hills around them burst reinforcements; Techno, swinging his axe, with Eret and Niki right behind; Quackity from another side leading both fiancés. The gathered crowd quickly flew into combat; weaving and dodging, they scampered around each other, all allies for a split second, towards their old friends.
But Tommy was on his knees in the grass, unmoving, desperately clutching onto Ranboo.
“Hey, hey. Ranboo.”
“Hey, big man.” Ranboo replied, skin back to its normal half-and-half coloring. “Bet you didn’t imagine me and you being here.” Tommy couldn’t even laugh, and Ranboo grimaced. “Must be bad for you, if you’re not making fun of me.”
“Ranboo, we’re going to fix you right up.” Tommy said, confidence oozing out of the empty words. He looked around, but Ranboo grabbed his shirt, shaking his head.
“Nah.” Ranboo said casually, as his heart seemed to rip in two. Or maybe it had. He wasn’t quite sure where Punz’s arrow was. “This is it for me. Don’t waste your time trying.” Tommy stared in horror.
“Ranboo.” He said, struggling to find the words he knew he had to say. “I--”
“Don’t lie to me, Tommy. Dream was right. It’s true, isn’t it?” Ranboo said, voice serious now.
“Yes.” Tommy replied flatly, unable to lie to the dying boy. “You killed him, Ranboo. You killed my best friend.” Ranboo’s eyes glossed over, and he was struck by a slice of panic. “But that’s not all, Ranboo. You did good things too, though they don’t feel like they matter. To either of us. But they do. And they mattered to Tubbo.” Ranboo’s eyes cleared up again, for a second.
“Tommy?” His words held no indication that he had heard Tommy’s words, but the way he held his gaze betrayed him.
“Yeah?”
“What do you want me to say to Tubbo for you?”
“You aren’t going to tell him anything.” Tommy said, anxiety creeping back into him. “You aren’t going to that place, Ranboo, no one deserves to go to that place, and Tubbo-- he can’t be there--” His breathing quickened, shaking, eyes holding a deep seated fear that struck Ranboo to the core.
“Tommy. It’s okay. Hey.” Ranboo lifted his hand and grabbed Tommy’s face to force the boy to look at him. “No offense, but this is the worst time for a panic attack.” He was relieved to see him crack a smile.
“Sorry.” He muttered, but Ranboo shook his head.
“No problem. Ow.” He said, but not because anything had moved or shifted; the pain was simply snaking up through him, choking the words out of his mouth.
“Ranboo!” Tommy said, adjusting himself so that Ranboo’s head was more firmly in his arms, muttering “Shhh, shh. I’m right here. I’m here, Ranboo. I’m here for ya.”
Ranboo smiled.
“I know. And I’ll tell… I’ll tell Tubbo.”
“But I didn’t give you a message.”
“Oh, but I saw the way you acted after he was gone. The way you moved, and talked. The way you looked at everyone else, including me. I’ll tell him.”
“Thank you.”
“Coming from you, that means quite a bit, actually.”
They shared a laugh before Ranboo spasmed. Tommy held him tighter, if not necessarily closer.
“Alright. Well, then.”
“Better hold on a little longer-- wait for the space in the afterlife to get big enough for those freakish legs of yours.” Tommy joked, the jab flowing naturally out of him.
“Oh, who needs legs? I’ve always wondered what it’s like to be short, anyways.”
“Tell Wilbur to fuck off. Tell Schlatt to distract him with solitaire or something. Don’t let Mexican Dream start singing to you, or he’ll never stop. And tell Tubbo… tell Tubbo hello.” Tommy gave a small smile as he saw Ranboo’s gaze mist over slightly.
“I am a monarch.” Ranboo muttered, almost to himself. “I will rule over my leaf pile with a fist of iron.” And with that cryptic message, Tommy watched him slip away into the dark void he knew all too well.
BONUS SCENE:
Dream panted, wiping his sword onto the grass as he walked away from Niki’s body. Knocked out, probably. She was a good fighter, with fast reflexes, but untrained in close combat against someone with his skill level.
He barely had a time to pause before the sound of sliding steel alerted him to a new attacker. Turning and ducking away, he saw the angry face of Jack Manifold glaring at him.
“I didn’t think you had any care for Tommy.” He said, making sure his mask was on tight.
“I don’t. But Tubbo? Tubbo did nothing wrong. And neither did Ranboo.” Jack spat, raising his sword to slice at Dream. Dream rolled away, springing up behind him and lunging at his exposed back. Jack rolled forward, head over heels, so that the sword hit his helmet with a clang.
Scrambling up, Jack was met with Dream’s axe swinging directly towards him, and he couldn’t block efficiently in time; the blade hit him square in the neck, throwing him sideways. Dream calmly wrenched the weapon out of his neck, backing off. He was as good as dead.
Or so he thought.
As Dream turned and walked away to take care of another opponent, Jack reached out for his sword, other hand pressed onto the gushing wound. Trying not to grunt from the effort and give himself away, he crawled over, hoping the sounds of fighting all around them would mask the movement, and used the blade to trip Dream by throwing it in front of him.
Dream leapt to the side deftly, almost on reflex. He turned around, gloating, but only saw a smile on Jack’s face. He barely had time to wonder what he was happy about before he felt his armor ripped off of him and an axe being buried deeply into his spine.
Jack laughed weakly up at Sapnap, blood splattered on his white shirt, bandana torn and a gash on his forehead. Sapnap stood for a moment, staring down at his friend, holding his axe in his back, and then snapped his attention to the scene around him.
“We need healing and res potions! Jack and Niki are down!” He called, leaping over Dream’s body and hoisting Jack up onto his shoulder.
Dream wasn’t going to hurt anybody anymore.