Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The moon was bright, tonight. Was it a full moon? It must be, with how vibrant it was. Maybe it was a special kind of moon, like a blue moon, or a blood moon. Those happened, right? He didn’t really have the time to check his memory doc, so he had to assume he was right.

Honestly, the moon was probably not something he should be focused on. Out of everything happening at the moment, the moon was far from important. But it always looked so nice from the park’s view. He needed to visit the park more often, he decided.

He’d visit if he survived, at least.

Dragging himself over to the closest bench, he let himself fall against the hard wood, trying to avoid jostling his side too much. Stab wounds were never too much fun. He pat his pockets down, sighing heavily in relief when he came across his phone in one of them. Thank god. Chances of survival just went up. 

As long as he had battery. He did have enough battery, right? 

Turning on his phone, he silently cheered at the number blinking at him from the corner. 87%, yes! He typed in his password with shaking fingers, ignoring how difficult it was to focus on typing with the intense trembling going on. From the cold or the blood loss, who really knew?

He barely thought as he typed in the phone number, silently grateful he’d spent so much time memorizing Niki’s number for times like this. It had been difficult, but definitely worth it when he was currently dying.

Of course, it would have been easier to just save her contact, but he kept forgetting to do that. Not the time to dwell on that. 

He opened up a chat, not bothering to double check the number as he rushed to message her.

-

XXX-XXX-2293 started the chat!

XXX-XXX-2293: hey im kinda bleeding out lol can i crash at the shop tonight

XXX-XXX-2293: its cool if not dw dw

XXX-XXX-7836: ????

XXX-XXX-7836: I’m 87% sure I’m not the number you meant to text 

XXX-XXX-7836: Are you okay??

XXX-XXX-2293: o shoot soz

XXX-XXX-2293: ignore me then haha

XXX-XXX-7836: No dude are you good??

XXX-XXX-7836: I get if you don’t want to talk to strangers or whatever but?? if you need help then please let me know??

XXX-XXX-2293: uhhh i got mugged???

XXX-XXX-2293: yeah i got mugged yeah

XXX-XXX-2293: i would appreciate help tho im at the town green??? the park next to the cult-run bakery

XXX-XXX-7836: I know what you’re talking about, yeah

XXX-XXX-7836: Can you get to a hospital or should I bring you to a friend’s?? they know stab wounds and stuff, they can patch you up.

XXX-XXX-2293: id prefer the friend if thats ok

XXX-XXX-2293: im the rly tall ender hybrid on a bench if uou need help findingme

XXX-XXX-2293: i forgot how much stab wound s suck im so tired hhhh

XXX-XXX-7836: LMAO they really do suck

XXX-XXX-7836: I’m almost at the park, stay alert for the guy in a green hoodie and weird mask

XXX-XXX-2293: no such thing as a werijrd mask i thin k

XXX-XXX-2293: i should be worried abt how chill you are withis but im also too in pain too care

XXX-XXX-7836: You said tall ender hybrid on a bench yeah?

XXX-XXX-2293: ye

XXX-XXX-2293: i see yuo mr green hoodie n mask

-

Ranboo raised his head, turning off his phone to (hopefully) save battery. A figure was waving at him as they walked closer, donning a green hoodie and smiley-face mask. Vaguely, it reminded him of his own mask sitting at the bottom of a duffle bag, abandoned in an alley below an empty dumpster only he ever looked at. Albeit more simplistic. He wondered if they had similar inspiration with it. 

He sluggishly raised a hand to wave back, finding his movements growing slower and slower. That wasn’t good. The pain was still mildly numbed by the adrenaline pumping through his veins, renewed by the interaction with a stranger and the possibility of being kidnapped right here and now, but he was still definitely bleeding. 

As the figure jogged up to him, he tried to adjust himself on the bench, putting away his phone and pressing his hands over his side. Apply pressure to slow the bleeding, right? That was a thing. Yeah. He winced at the sting, but continued to press anyways. 

Not even a second later, he was being lifted off the bench. Oh. He (metaphorically) blinked as he was raised up and propped against someone nearly a head shorter than him. Though, to be fair, almost everyone was a head shorter than him. Still, it was uncomfortable to be leaning against someone that only reached just above your shoulders, trying not to aggravate his wound even more. 

“I’m Dream, by the way,” green hoodie guy said, his calm far calmer than Ranboo expected from the situation. They were moving out of the park before he could process it, humming to let Dream know he heard and understood him. “My friend lives just down the street, here. He’s one of the only houses in this area, Phil.” 

He nodded, not finding the energy in him to respond. He knew what Dream was talking about, though. He’d passed by the houses on the way to work, noted how they were crammed between businesses and how efficient and inefficient it must be to live there. While he could walk into the downtown area from his house - his was right on the road, anyways - these people lived right next to the stores and shops. Interesting and weird, he’d always thought. 

He used to wonder what kind of person would live there. Guess he was about to find out, assuming Dream wasn’t lying to him and leading him to some abandoned storefront where he ran an illegal kidnapping organization. He wouldn’t be surprised, he’d seen worse.

“What can I call you?” Dream asked as they walked (read: as Dream dragged him) down the street, nearing one of the houses. 

He thought for a second, before answering truthfully. “Ranboo,” he croaked, wincing at how cracked his voice sounded. There was no real reason to lie or give a fake name. If he regretted it later, he’d regret it later. What can you do?

“Ranboo, got it.” They stopped in front of a grey door, Dream not hesitating before banging on the door. Ranboo dimly noticed the scratch marks on the bottom of the door, a variety of claws that definitely belonged to different animals. Ominous. Maybe they just got a lot of strays. “Phil!” Dream shouted, still banging on the door. 

Ranboo wasn’t really present enough to flinch. In the back of his mind, he could see how that was a bad thing, and certainly a sign of blood loss. He had to wonder if he had more or less blood than a normal human person. Could he theoretically lose more blood and be fine? He didn’t exactly have any interest in testing that theory, but it was there, in his thoughts as he heard heavy footsteps approach the door from the other side. 

The door swung open, and they were met with the sight of an angry, tired, blond man. What an impression. Guess he had an answer to who lived in these kinds of houses. 

Angry Tired Blond Man had clearly just woken up, if the messy hair and still-closed eyes were anything to go by. His entire appearance was pretty disheveled, really. A couple of dark grey feathers clunch to his clothes, Ranboo noticed, and a glance behind the man answered where the feathers came from.

Large, dark, and irritated wings ruffled behind him, more feathers flinging off with the motion.

Dream lowered his fist, which had been raised to knock again. He had a sheepish looking smile, giving Angry Tired Blond Man a meek wave. Phil, Ranboo had to assume, levelled him with a glare. Seemingly, he hadn’t yet noticed Ranboo. Not surprising, he blended well with the nighttime darkness. An edgy teen’s dream, he was.

Technically, he was an edgy teen, wasn’t he? Ha. Good for him. 

“Dream,” Angry Tired Blond Man That Might Be Phil started, voice low with warning. Or maybe exhaustion. It sounded like this had happened before, considering how unsurprised and downright annoyed Angry Tired Blond Man That Might Be Phil was. “What could you possibly want from me at-” he glanced inside the house, presumably at a clock, “- 2 in the morning ?” He was British, he noted. Not important information, but information nonetheless. 

“Well, Phil, uh,” Dream said, glancing up at Ranboo, back to Phil, up at Ranboo, before settling for just gesturing to the teen. “Ranboo here is bleeding out. Stab wound.”

Phil (he now had confirmation, nice) looked to Ranboo, eyes widening by barely a fraction, and stepped aside from the door. An invitation. Ranboo ducked his head as Dream walk right on in, pulling him in as well. The door was closed behind them, and the light was turned on, bombarding Ranboo’s vision. Oh, ouch. His eyes had gotten used to the dark, that was sudden. And bright.

Dream also hissed, but kept shuffling Ranboo around until they reached a couch. It was red. Would be handy if his blood weren’t a neon green, like most other endermen hybrids. They’d probably have to wash the seats, anyways, nobody liked bloody couches all that much. At least, nobody that he knew. These were people that took in a stranger at 2 AM to patch up his stab wound, who knew what their preferences were. 

“Alright, stab wound,” Phil said, opening a closet of some sort. Probably medical supplies. Hopefully medical supplies. “Dream, grab a towel and apply steady pressure. Ranboo, can y’tell me where this stabbin’ is?”

As Dream walked over with a towel that he grabbed from the kitchen (Ranboo watched him get it from the kitchen, don’t even deny it-) he peeled his hands away from his significantly less-heavily bleeding wound on his side, grimacing. He wasn’t going to be able to touch anything for a while. Not to mention his clothes. He just bought this shirt, from Macy’s and everything. 

“Uh, here,” he said oh-so-helpfully, raising his arm to give better access to the laceration. He sucked in a breath when his movement tugged at it, but made sure to school his face into a more or less neutral expression. No real reason to, but he didn’t really want to risk crying, for injury’s sake and all. 

Dream nodded and knelt down next to the couch, pressing the towel over where the bleeding was most dense. Ranboo hummed in confirmation, that hurt a whole lot more than if Dream had pressed a towel to a not-stabbed area. 

“I’m gonna have to peel that shirt away, d’you think you can get it off without havin’ to cut it?” Phil asked, walking over with what vaguely looked like a first-aid kit in tow. Ranboo had to think about that, recalling the pain felt from just moving his arm. At his hesitation to answer, Phil shook his head and clicked his tongue. Apparently, that was answer enough. “We’ll cut it away. No use strainin’ you further, anyways.”

“A...alright,” he tried to say, his voice quieter than he’d like it to be. Both men heard him, though, so it was good enough. 

Dream took the towel away, muttering an apology before starting to peel the fabric away from the wound. It had stuck to it, the way any damp fabric stuck to skin, but boy howdy did it hurt a lot more. If Ranboo hadn’t gone through this same thing at least 2 other times that he could remember, he would probably yelp.

Instead, he focused on his breathing, silently wishing he could close his eyes and block out the world. 

He could hear Phil talking him through the process, saying what they were doing right now, what they were going to do, what they needed him to do to make sure things didn’t get any worse than they had to, but could only nod along numbly. Was this shock? Was he in shock? That’d be weird, out of all the times to fall into shock, this was not the time he’d expect. 

Phil seemed to notice Ranboo’s distant state, and order Dream to get something. He didn’t really catch what he was getting, but when he left, he was headed to the kitchen. 

At the moment, Ranboo had half a shirt on. Had he been more aware, he might have mourned the permanent loss of one of his favorite shirts. They had just started cleaning his wound, finding it wide, but not deep. A relatively good thing, he hoped. Not deep meant less chance of stabbed organs, which he would always count as a good thing. 

No organs stabbed meant less reason to go to the hospital. He could not afford a hospital as of this moment. 

Dream came back with something in his hand, and Ranboo was instructed to open his mouth. Was this the moment they drugged him and carried him out to a van? Maybe. He didn’t care as much as he probably should have. He opened his mouth. 

Instantly, he felt something cold on his tongue. He was told to close his mouth, but not to swallow whatever was now in his mouth, so he did so. It was really cold, like ice. And it was melting.

Oh, this was an ice cube. He pulled a face at how cold it felt against the roof of his mouth, but ultimately, he wasn’t in pain. Sans the stab wound, of course. 

“Back with us?” Phil asked, making Ranboo look up. He had something shiny in his hand - a needle. A skin needle (he couldn’t remember what they were called). Ranboo nodded, not able to respond verbally due to the ice in his mouth. He got a warm smile and a nod back. “Good. I’m about to stitch you back up, if that’s alright?”

It was phrased as a question, so Ranboo nodded again. He wasn’t thrilled at the idea of stitches, obviously, but it was this or a doctor, and one of these options was significantly cheaper than the other. 

“Okay. I know what I’m doing, so you don’t have to worry about that.” Phil was closer in a second, position both himself and Ranboo to more easily access the wound. “After this, I’ll let you know how to take care of yourself and the wound to keep it from getting infected.” As he spoke, Ranboo felt the pinch of the needle, and started to take in a deep breath. Oh boy, were his breathing exercises going to be coming in handy, now. Thank you, Niki. “If you want, I can check up on it every so often. I can take the stitches out, too, when the time comes, if you don’t want a doctor.” 

Ranboo nodded, mouth pressed into a thin line.

“Can I ask why?” Another pinch of the needle, and he winced. “I mean, answer when you can, if you want to at all. Just curious why you wouldn’t want a hospital. Dream tells me you were mugged.”

Right, his lie. Technically, he had gotten mugged, if you look at the literal definition. He had been threatened, he had less money than before, and he had gotten harmed. Granted, he had also done some threatening and harming, but still. Underground fighting rings were just like that. 

“Can’t-” he shut his mouth, another stitch, another pinch. “Can’t afford it. Expensive.” Phil made an understanding noise in return.

Eventually, he stepped away from the couch, and Ranboo relaxed. He hadn’t realized how tense he had been, geez. Now that he wasn’t anticipating pain, at least.

“Well, that’s all. You can stay here for the night, but we’ll have to set you up on the couch,” Phil said, starting to clean up, gathering the towel and various medical supplies strewn about. “Not this couch, obviously-” Ranboo wouldn’t have complained if he had meant that couch, “-but I want to make sure you don’t develop a fever or anything. Do you need to talk to a guardian or anything?” 

Ranboo shrugged as he was lifted from the couch, letting himself be tired as he was led to a different couch. He took his phone out, knowing they wouldn’t respond anyways, and turned it on when he was lowered again. He opened the chat with his parents, taking a second to mentally laugh at the amount of time between the last message sent and now. 

-

Ranboo: im at a friends house tonight

Read //

-

Read, no response. About what he expected. He turned his phone off again, melting into the couch as a blanket was draped over him. 

These people were awfully nice to strangers. Maybe it was just towards injured strangers. 

“So you don’t panic in the morning, I’ve got two others living here. Techno and Edward, they won’t hurt you or anythin’,” Phil said, turning off the light in the living room. “Actually, Edward’s an ender hybrid, like you. He and Techno are pretty quiet, anyways, so I wouldn’t worry about them.”

Ranboo didn’t reply, shifting onto his side (the not stabbed one) and bringing the blanket over his face. They sounded fine, yeah. Even so, no need to freak anyone out with the ‘sleeping with eyes open’ thing. 

Phil paused, then muttered a goodnight. 

Belatedly, as his vision faded out, he realized Dream had left. Huh. Wonder when that happened. 

___________

Phil closed the door to his room with a heavy sigh, shaking out his wings. The stress these kids caused him was going to make him pluck his feathers out, Christ. 

His phone buzzed on his desk, right next to his bed. He walked over to it, picking up the device and opening the now-awake groupchat. Damnit, Dream, he just wanted to go to sleep already. He wasn’t like his fucking housemates, he couldn’t sleep through a snowstorm without any problem. 

-

‘cool people only (23 days since last injury!)’

Dream: sorry boys, but

Dream changed the chat named to: ‘cool people only (0 days since last injury)’

Dream: things happen

Gremlin 2: DREAMW WHAT HE FUCKJ WE WERE FDOING SO GOOSE

Gremlin 2: GOOD****

Dream: goose*

Dream: To be fair, it wasn’t me

Tubbo: wjo was it?

Grandchild: ^^^ ?

Phil: don’t know why he bothered to change the chat name, it wasn’t anyone in here

Dream: But we were involved, therefor, an injury related to us

Phil: patching up someones stab wound does not relate the injury to us

Tubbo: did u stab w/out me????

Dream: Dude was already stabbed when I found him

Dream: in my defense

Grandchild: Who was stabbed??

Phil: enderman hybrid, said his name was Ranboo

Grandchild: !!!!!!

Dream: ??

Grandchild: i know him!!! really tall, looks like an oreo, awkward?

Dream: i mean kinda rude but yeah

Dream: thats the guy

Phil: How do you know him?

Dream: ^^

Grandchild: We work together !! our shifts align p often

Grandchild: he’s funny lolol

Dream: OH

Dream: the ice cream shop?

Grandchild: babe i only have one job

Dream: never call me that again

Dream: but I know what you’re talking about! he messed up my order with some random dudes aha

Grandchild: thats weird

Grandchild: he’s usually one of the better workers

Grandchild: must have had an off day

Phil: he’s had a couple of off days, if the stab wound in his side is anything to go by

Gremlin 1: did he say how he got stabbed

Gremlin 2: WILBUR!

Gremlin 1: hello child tommyinnit

Gremlin 2: OH FUCK OFF

Dream: He said he got mugged

Dream: didn’t sound too sure of it tho so who knows

Grandchild: He probably did

Grandchild: he just sounds like that

Tubbo: oh ranboo!!

Tubbo: hes in me and tommys history class!

Gremlin 2: oh yeah, didnt he come into school like

Gremlin 2: a month late?

Tubbo: yeah !!!!

Phil: great discussion but some of us are tired

Phil: go the fuck to sleep yall

Gremlin 1: got it old man

Phil: Wil.

Gremlin 1: yes sir philza minecraft sir

Gremlin 1: going to bed sir philza minecraft sir

Phil: goodnight. 

-

Falling onto his bed and turning off his ringer, he tossed his phone aside and went to sleep. Good fucking riddance.

___________

Going to school a week later was likely not a smart decision, but it was a decision Ranboo was making anyways. 

His cut was healing well, he had to applaud the Phil guy for his handiwork. As mildly concerning as it was for him to be so well prepared for such dire situation. He wasn’t one to question other’s life choices, whatever. 

He still had the stitches in, those wouldn’t be removed for another few days, but he had wrapped them up to keep them from...everything, really. Clothes, water, people. And just to generally keep them from getting moved around too much. 

He wasn’t a stranger to bandages and medical tape, anyways. He trusted his skills enough to keep the wound safe. If his stitches burst, he would probably be able to pull through the day. 

Obvious he wasn’t planning on break the suture, but if worst comes to worst, yada yada. 

He shifted his bag to one shoulder, the one on his good side. He had history first, so that was cool. Out of all his classes, he minded history the least, just because of how slow-paced it was. It was the ‘average grade’ class, but the teacher didn’t seem to care all that much about her job, so they tended to just get a worksheet assigned and let loose. 

As long as the worksheet was on her desk at the end of the day, wrong answers or not, you got credit. He didn’t like doing nothing all class, but it was a nice break from the day. 

Or, when he started out with it, a warm up for the rest of his classes. 

The other kids didn’t really bother him in this class, either. In some of his other classes, he’d had to introduce himself to the class, since he’d come in a month late. Apparently he needed to ‘get to know his fellow classmates’ and ‘establish a bond with your peers.’ All it really did was draw attention to him, but the teachers didn’t care about that.

With history, though, the teacher just wrote down his name on the attendance sheet and went about her day. No introductions, no weird looks, no questions about why he was so late to school. He just walked in, and it was like he’d been there from day one.

No one talked to him, but he was fine with that. It was a little lonely, but it gave him time to relax. Hype himself up for the rest of the day, where he’d get uncomfortable stares and personal questions because he’s just so unique and so intriguing and his peers wanted to treated him like a mystery to be solved rather than a kid who broke his ankle and had to wait a month to be able to attend school. 

Really, he did just break his ankle. ‘Bike accident’ had been the excuse he fed his parents and teachers, and it was quickly believed. Which was funny, since he didn’t even own a bike, and his parents probably should have known that. 

He didn’t expect anything more of them, though, considering he had to handle all of his financial needs beyond the house his parents barely lived in. He got a $10 allowance at the start of every month, like that would be enough for house repairs, clothing, groceries, and any other needs he had that they didn’t care about. 

And that wasn’t even mentioning simple wants. 

Off topic. Oops. 

He had broken his ankle. But it wasn’t riding a bike, or anything so mundane. Again, he had to pay for just about everything , himself. A part-time job at the ice cream parlor down the street helped him, but it couldn’t cover everything. 

And what could he turn to, but underground fighting rings? 

He doesn’t remember how he got into them, honestly. He doesn’t remember when he started, or how long he’d been involved in them, but he was far too deep to question that now. 

‘Enderwalk,’ he was known as. An otherworldly fighter who doesn’t bother with dignity, yet fights with grace anyways. A 7’ tall mystery fighter whose style of fighting changed with just about every opponent he faced. 

The identity he’d crafted years ago, that sat in a duffel bag under a dumpster, a block down from his main haunt. Hypixel . How awe-inspiring. 

Hypixel was his main source of income, but not his only one. And those smaller, lesser-known, no rules rings were where the majority of his injuries came from. 

Including the stab wound, which he was painfully reminded of when he was jabbed in the side by a random classmate as he entered the classroom. Ouch. 

He bit back a hiss of pain, not wanting to draw any unwanted attention to himself as he made his way to his seat. 

Sitting down, the fur on the back of his neck (he had patches at most of his joints, though it was hard to tell, since they were colored similarly to his skin anyhow) pricked up at the feeling of eyes. Two pairs, staring right at him. He ignored the feeling, letting dread sink in his stomach as he waited to class to start. 

The eyes went away for a few second. Before he could sag in relief, though, they were back with a vengeance. He grimaced just as he was snapped out of his thoughts by a hand slamming on his desk. 

Frowning, he looked up at the owner of the hand. A blond-haired boy, glaring right down at him. He kind of looked like a raccoon. No, scratch that, he looked a lot like a raccoon. From the dark fur surrounding his eyes to the stripy tail fluffed up behind him. Ranboo held back a snort at the amount of emotion the tail alone gave away. 

Behind Raccoon Boy stood a much nicer looking boy, though his eyes were just as piercing. Two tiny horns poked through the skin around his hairline, most likely underdeveloped. Ranboo knew what that felt like, the thrumming of his half-formed pearl humming in sympathy. 

Raccoon Boy hit his desk again, and Ranboo’s eyes snapped to meet his. Instantly, he moved his eyes down to the boy’s nose, shaking his head slightly like that would get rid of the static growing at the eye contact. 

“So, you’re Ranboo?” Raccoon Boy asked, looking nothing short of unimpressed. Ranboo’s frown deepened as the boy furrowed his eyebrows, like he was searching for something. He scowled. “You don’t look all that stabbed.”

Ranboo leaned back, baffled at the statement. What? What? Was that a compliment? Was that an insult? Subconsciously, he brought a hand to his side, glancing rapidly between the boy and his friend. 

“He might’ve gotten better, you know how good Phil is at that kind of stuff,” the friend chimed in, pushing Raccoon Boy aside a little to get closer to Ranboo’s desk. 

Wait, Phil? Scarily good with a needle Phil? Didn’t seem at all concerned even though he was patching some random kid that got stabbed Phil?

“You two know Phil?” He asked before he could stop himself. Internally, he cursed at himself, knowing they definitely wouldn’t leave him alone now. 

He was proven right when Horned Boy perked up with a grin just a hair to wide to be friendly or welcoming. “Yeah! He helps with our injuries and stuff! You were the guy that Dream found bleeding out last week, right?”

That was certainly a description, and not one Ranboo thought would apply to him, but he nodded. He was overwhelmed, but no longer in as much fear as before. The two probably had good intentions, right? 

He hoped so.

“Nice!” He turned his gaze back to Raccoon Boy, surprised at the satisfied smile breaking out on his face. Was that what it took to get this guy happy? Stabbing? “Where’d you get stabbed? Who stabbed you? Didja stab ‘em back?”

Ranboo was pressed against the back of his seat, massively overwhelmed at this point. He looked to Horned Boy for any sort of help, eyes pleading. However, Horned Boy seemed just as curious.

“Um,” he dumbly started, mind racing too fast for him to keep up. Shaking a little, he raised a hand to point to his side, careful not to touch it. “I-I got stabbed here, uh...I don’t really know who stabbed me…” That was a lie, but he was nervous enough to cancel out any additional nerves that came with lying. “...I didn’t stab them back, no?” That was true, he really didn’t stab them back. He didn’t have a knife, or any stabbing utensils, really. The most he could do was rip off the half-n-half mask that he refused to fight without, stuff it in his duffle bag, and try to contact Niki.

He failed that part, of course, but he got help anyways. Actually, Dream had kept in touch afterwards, even going as far as giving him Phil’s number as well, in case he ever needed help and Dream wasn’t available. 

He knew that if he was in need of help, he wouldn’t be contacting either of them, but he appreciated the sentiment. Niki was his go-to, always letting him into the flower shop after hours if he needed to get patched up from a nasty fight or if he was running low on food. He couldn’t remember why she helped him out so often, but he tried to make it up to her as much as he could. She helped him more times than he could count. 

Right, he was in a conversation right now. He cleared his throat, dropping his hand onto his desk. “Uh, who are you two…?” He asked, hating how unsure he sounded of himself. This was why he didn’t talk during matches, man. 

Well, that and the whole ‘secret identity’ thing. Unimportant.

“Oh, right!” Horned Boy said, smacking Raccoon Boy over the head like it was his fault. Ignoring his friend’s indignant shout, he pointed to himself, then his friend. “I’m Tubbo, he’s Tommy! Nice to meet you!”

He nodded, smiling a little as the bell ran, signifying the start of class. The two in front of him groaned, but dragged themselves back to their seats. He huffed out a laugh, watching them walk away before taking out his phone.

‘Do Not Read,’ a google doc that had saved his hide way too often. Apparently, getting your head smashed in monthly messes with your brain, who knew! Not him, when he started fighting. (Now, his mask has a fun layer of padding on the inside to keep his head a little safer. Just in case.) His memory was, for lack of a better term, shit now, and he had to rely on a document with all his memories in it.

Not all his memories, really. Just whatever he feels is important enough to write down. Or, type down. Type out? Type.

Hiding his phone under his desk while the teacher started attendance, he typed out two new names under ‘ Friends???’ with a poorly hidden smile. History class was, honestly and truly, one of his favorite classes. 

___________

Once class ended, Tommy immediately stretched himself out. Big, wide, and obnoxiously, with a pointed yawn to go with it. Tubbo laughed at his dramatics, kicking his desk while he gathered his things. Tommy just slumped in his chair, not yet getting his things as he watched Ran boob leave the classroom with an almost painful looking slouch that was no good for someone with a stab wound. Healing or not. 

“He’s gonna fuck himself over, standing like that,” he commented as Tubbo threw his own bag at him. He coughed when it landed on his stomach, shooting an honest to god hurt and betrayed look to his friend. Tubbo was already halfway out the door. He grumbled, shrugging his bag over his shoulder and following suit. “Really! If I had that much height, which I totally could , I would flaunt it all over the place!”

Tubbo laughed again, hitting his arm as they walked down the hallway to their next class together. Yeah, together. The teachers must have know how amazing and awesome they were when paired up, because basically ¾ of their classes were shared.

“ Oh, look at me, with all my tremendous height that I earned myself! You know?” He said, puffing out his chest when doing his impression. Tubbo opened his mouth to respond, but stopped when the both of them got a message on their phones. Right, groupchat. 

Tubbo pulled out his phone and Tommy leaned over to look at it, knowing they would be opening the same chat messages, anyways. 

-

‘cool people only (7 days since last injury)’

niki!!!: does anyone have an update on Ranboo? i’m just worried since the last I heard about him, he was stabbed

-

Tubbo and Tommy shared a look, similar grins on both of their faces. Tommy took the phone from Tubbo’s hand, aggressively typing out a response and sending before Tubbo could pry his phone back with a shout. He laughed as Tubbo rushed to explain, his friend barely holding back his only laughter.

-

‘cool people only (7 days since last injury)’

tub(me): BOOB BOY WAS IN MY CLASS HROTONDAY DUHFKJS

niki!!!: tubbo??

wilbbrs: tommy probably

tub(me): that was tommy soz !!!

tub(me): ye ranbo was in class wihch was neat

tub(me): hes funny

tub(me): like furry said

fund: …

tub(me): suffer haha

-

Tommy barked out a laugh, getting shoved back as a response. A nearby teacher, roaming the halls between class periods, gave him a stern look that he promptly ignored. Sucks to suck.

“We didn’t get his number, did we?” Tubbo asked, putting his phone away to see where he was going. Tommy thought about it, but shook his head. They hadn’t, huh. 

“I bet green bitch has it,” he answered, amused by his own nickname for the green bitch. Dream hated it whenever Tommy called him that, which only ever made his use the nickname more.

A strike of genius jolted his brain and he gasp, grabbing Tubbo’s shoulder and shaking him. He got smacked again in response, but was far from deterred, turning to face Tubbo as he walked backwards into the crowd of students shoving through the hall.

“What if we got Dream to add him to the chat!” He exclaimed, not asking despite the question being- well, a question. Tubbo mimicked his earlier gasp, nodding rapidly. Tommy took out his own phone, hurrying to open the groupchat and completely disregarding the already happening conversation. His idea was much better and more important, anyways. 

-

‘cool people only (7 days since last injury)’

WILBITCH: i really think i was a good mayor

nikipog: wilbur you almost blew up the city 3 times

nikipog: you aren’t even allowed to reside there anymore

WILBITCH: yes but i was but a young immortal being what else was i going to do

PHILZA MINECRAFT: will

PHILZA MINECRAFT: need i remind you of what happened the last time you used that excuse

WILBITCH: HAHAHA NEVERMIND 

BEST PERSON (me): BITCHES AND PHILZA MINECRAFT I HAVE BEEN STROKED BYGENIUS YET AGAIN

WILBITCH: oh god

PHILZA MINECRAFT: x2

nikipog: hello tommy!

BEST PERSON (me): HELLO NIKI

BEST PERSON (me): BACK TO MY AMAZING IDEAS

UGLY GREEN BITCH: implying more than one?

BEST PERSON (me): GOOD YOURE HERE

BEST PERSON (me): AS MUCH AS I HATE TO SAY IT YOU ARE VITAL GREEN MAN

UGLY GREEN BITCH: i feel so loved rn

BEST PERSON (me): YOU HAVE RANBOOS NUMBER CORRECT?

UGLY GREEN BITCH: yes? if he didn’t give you his number himself, i’m not giving it to you

BEST PERSON (me): SHUT THAT IS NOT THE IDEA

BEST PERSON (me): ADD RNABOO TO THE GROUPCHAT

Tubbo: ^^^

UGLY GREEN BITCH: I can ask if he wants to be added but i wont make any promises

PHILZA MINECRAFT: dont scare the kid, tommy

-

Tommy scoffed at the sentiment. Him? Scaring anyone? If anything, Ranboo would be scared by how amazing and awesome he was. 

Don’t scare him, pah. Silliness. 

___________

Ranboo felt a chill run down his spine. Yikes, was he not wearing enough layers? He’d need to get on that, a cold would be awful right now. 

He entered his chemistry class with time to spare. Heck yeah. He pulled his phone out as he sat down, startling when he got a message. There were only two people that would message him, so-

-yeah. ‘Dream,’ said the notification. He clicked on it, letting it take him to the chat he’d accidentally opened last week. 

-

‘Dream(stab wound), Ranboo’

Dream(stab wound): Hey, are you available rn?

Ranboo: class doesn’t start for a few minutes

Ranboo: what’s up?

Dream(stab wound): I’m in this group chat

Dream(stab wound): with Phil and some others

Dream(stab wound): including Tommy and Tubbo who want to add you

Ranboo: that’s cool

Dream(stab wound): so?

Ranboo: ???

Dream(stab wound): d

Dream(stab wound): do you want to be added to the chat?

Dream(stab wound): /pos /pos i’m not being mean or anything 

Ranboo: OH

Ranboo: uh

-

He glanced at the time. He only had one more minute left until class started. 

He could, theoretically, join the chat, then mute it with the excuse of class. Putting off the anxiety that came with meeting new people. While still allowing himself to meet new people.

He liked Tommy and Tubbo. He trusted Dream and Phil. He doesn’t think they’d be pranking him or anything like that. 

He’s done more dangerous things. What’s the worst joining a chat would do?

He did not want an answer to that, actually.

-

‘Dream(stab wound), Ranboo’

Ranboo: sure

Dream(stab wound): Awesome! I’ll add you in a sec

Ranboo: class is about to start so can you let them know i’m muted for the time being?

Dream(stab wound): no problem! Focus on schoolwork!

Ranboo: lmao gotcha

-

He turned off his phone when the teacher opened the door to the classroom, smiling a little to himself. He did it. He was about to be added to a group chat. He didn’t even have to be the one to give the classroom excuse!

This was. This was actually sort of okay. 

His grin grew when he failed to push it down, hiding it by digging through his backpack for his textbook. 

His day was going well, so far. He was okay with this. 

___________

Chemistry went about as well chemistry could go. It was chemistry. He vaguely understanded it. He wrote down whatever the teacher wrote down, if he could catch it in time before they erased the board. He didn’t have a great ratio going, if he was being honest. 

And...the chatroom. He could have messaged the new group chat in his phone after leaving chemistry. He had seen it, he had the time. He had, in fact, stared at the unopened chat for a solid five minutes debating whether or not he should open the chat, only to be cut off by the bell ringing and starting his next class.

And then that just. Kept happening. 

He went through the entire day like that, actually. Which kind of sucked, he wasn’t going to lie. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to message the chatroom, or anything. He just. Didn’t. 

And then he kept not messaging the chatroom, making things worse because the classroom excuse could only last so long. In his mind, as he travelled from class to class, he kept thinking up new excuses, new plausible reasons for why he wasn’t replying, and then suddenly school had ended.

Bright side, he made it through the day without aggravating his stitches. He gave himself points for that. 

Now he was walking home, backpack slung over his shoulder and phone in his hand, thinking about how much time he had until his shift at the ice cream shop and how much time that gave him to stall the chatroom issue. Not that he was, y’know, stalling, because he wasn’t . He was just. Stalling.

His driveway was empty when his house came into view, entirely unsurprisingly. Sometimes, when he was particularly bored, he would pretend to be shocked that his parents weren’t home. Shocked that they were somewhere out of the country without so much as a note saying where they were. Shocked that they’d left him alone with just 10 goddamn dollars.

Today, though, he wasn’t that bored. Quite far from it. So when he eyed the empty driveway, glaring like it had personally wronged him in some way, like the driveway was at fault for his parents absence, he just heaved a sigh and kept walking. Up to the porch, up the steps, through the door, and into the house. 

It was dark, wow. And empty. Who’d’ve thunk it. Certainly not him, no way. 

He snorted at his own sarcastic thoughts, tossing his bag onto the floor and making a beeline for the living room/dining room. He used it for both, no use being polite or using manners when he was the only one around. Besides, the house didn’t even have a proper dining room. It barely had 2 bedrooms, the room officially labelled his being a repurposed storage closet. He never slept in there, anyways.

He fell down onto the couch with a grunt, careful to avoid hitting his bad side. The day was about as draining as any other day.

Woo.

His phone buzzed in his pocket, and he groaned, making a show of taking it out and slamming it on the cushion right in front of him. He looked up, staring at the phone like it had offended him somehow, and shifted himself to sit upright. Still leaning against the back of the couch, he picked his phone back up, turning it on and grimacing at the sheer number of messages left for him.

The only ones that actually alerted him were private messages, something he’d set up forever ago in the hopes that he might have any need for the function and something he was grateful for now. 

He took in a deep breath. Now or never, as they say. 

He opened the chat and immediately smiled at the name. Oh boy, how exciting. 

Last injury 7 days ago, wasn’t that when he’d been stabbed last? Was he the last injury? Dang. He wasn’t even in the chatroom yet. 

He pushed down any lasting anxious thoughts, and sent a message.

-

‘cool people only (7 days since last injury)’

Ranboo: hello, i’m ranboo

Ranboo: sorry for not saying anything earlier, school stuff

XXX-XXX-7329: RANBOO

Ranboo: hello person i do not know

XXX-XXX-1927: ASJKFJDDF PERSON I DO NOT KNOW

XXX-XXX-1927: GOOD KID GOOD KID

XXX-XXX-7329: SHUT THE HELL YOU MOUTH QUACKMAN

XXX-XXX-3749: “Quackman”

XXX-XXX-6339: out of everything said i dont think ‘quackman’ takes the cake

XXX-XXX-7329: RANBOO IT IS I

Ranboo: you do realize that clears up absolutely nothing

XXX-XXX-3749: all caps angry child is Tommy, I’m Purpled

XXX-XXX-3749: ‘quackman’ is Quackity

XXX-XXX-3749: the guy with 69 in his number is Wilbur

Ranboo: oh cool

Ranboo: thank you Purpled

Purpled(helped with names): no prob new person Ranboo

Tommy(loud): THE GUY WITH 69 SAJFAFDSDG

Wilbur: quiet, child

Phil(good with med): Hello Ranboo! How are your stitches?

Ranboo: they’re fine, thank you again!

Phil(good with med): Don’t worry about it. 

Tommy(loud): WAIT YOU KNOW PHILS NUMBER???

XXX-XXX-3529: i mean makes sense

XXX-XXX-3529: since phil helped him n evrything

XXX-XXX-3529: im tubbo btw!!!

Ranboo: hi tubbo!

Tubbo(small horns): hi ranboo!

Fundy(nice coworker): Ranboo, your shift is also this afternoon yeah?

Ranboo: oh hey fundy

Ranboo: i didn’t know you were here 

Ranboo: yeah, 3:30-closing today

Fundy(nice coworker): thank god, i don’t think i’d make it to closing alone

Dream(stab wound): I forgot Fundy mentioned working w/ you lololol

Ranboo: is there anyone else in this chat???

Dream(stab wound): yeah, hold on

Dream(stab wound): i’ll send you a list of everyone else

-

‘Dream(stab wound), Ranboo’

Dream(stab wound): XXX-XXX-4397 - Puffy, she works at the flower shop near your workplace

XXX-XXX-9632 - Techno, lives w/ Phil, he left before you woke up last week

XXX-XXX-9377 - Niki, she works with Puffy

Ranboo: oh, i know niki!

Ranboo: she’s nice

Ranboo: wait so she’s also in the chat?

Dream(stab wound): lmao yeah

Ranboo: ok cool

Ranboo: thank you 

-

Ranboo sucked in a breath, biting his lip. Like Phil and Dream, Niki has helped him out before.

Unlike Phil and Dream, she knew where he actually got all of his wounds. 

He started a separate chat with Niki, panic at an all-time high. Or, okay, not all-time, just higher than normal.

-

Ranboo started the chat!

Ranboo: hey niki?

Niki(flower shop): hi ranboo! i noticed you were added to the group chat!

Ranboo: i was haha

Ranboo: you’ve helped me a lot and i really appreciate it

Ranboo: and i really don’t want to ask any more of you but

Niki(flower shop): what’s up??

Niki(flower shop): is this about the group chat?

Ranboo: yeah

Ranboo: can you not tell them about like

Ranboo: my situation?

Ranboo: like, the parents stuff, the fighting stuff

Ranboo: if its not too much trouble obv

Niki(flower shop): oh!

Niki(flower shop): it’s okay, I can do that!

Niki(flower shop): i won’t ask why but

Niki(flower shop): if you’re ever in danger and they ask about it, i will have to tell them

Ranboo: yeah no i get that

Ranboo: i’ll be careful i promise just

Ranboo: thank you so much

Niki(flower shop): i’m always happy to help you, ranboo ^^

Ranboo: thank you, still

-

Ranboo let out a sigh of relief, practically melting into the couch. He looked at the time again - he had half an hour until his shift started. He had to get ready to leave, soon.

-

‘cool people only (7 days since last injury)’

Ranboo: i have to go again

Ranboo: for work and stuff

Ranboo: but it was nice meeting you all!

Tubbo(small horns): bye!!

Niki(flower shop): goodbye ranboo!

Phil(good with med): Stay safe

Fundy(nice coworker): ill see you at work sadhfkj

Ranboo: lmao see you

-

That could have gone worse.

He stood up, leaving his phone behind on the couch as he left the room. He had to get changed, work uniform and all that.

He paused at the top of the stairs, smiling.

Yeah, that could have gone worse.

Chapter Text

Ranboo panted, stumbling away from the ring and into the onlooking crowd. That was harder than it had to be.

He was back in Hypixel. The rewards were smaller, but it was worth not getting stabbed all the time. Besides, he didn’t have to worry about any curiosity regarding his anonymity like he did in smaller rings. 

There, people were closer. They talked more, and they liked answers. In the smaller rings, Ranboo found, information was just as valuable as skill.

In Hypixel, though, anonymity meant nothing. Everyone had a past, everyone had secrets, and nobody cared. Nobody talked, nobody gossiped, and nobody asked questions. In Hypixel, they weren’t there to chat. They were there to fight.

And fight they did. Ranboo- no, Enderwalk had bitten on more than they could chew. It wasn’t like they’d had much trouble against any one individual fighter. Not at all. The problem laid in how many fights they’d been in just that night.

At the moment, they were walking away from their 5th fight that night in a row . They hadn’t left the ring since they first stepped onto it, accepting fight after fight. 

They had both the reward and the bruises to show for it. That was going to be hard to hide.

They were having trouble breathing through the mask, but dealt with it all the same. Until he was out of the ring and far, far from anyone that could possibly want to know who he was, he didn’t dare take it off. He couldn’t. It was too much of a risk. 

The mask kind of reminded him of the mask he’d seen Dream wearing, which made him laugh. Part of him couldn’t believe it was a coincidence, but it was. There was no way he’d met Dream before, so how could he base his own mask off of his?

Maybe they had the same inspiration. Maybe Ranboo would know, if he’d written it down. But he had a rule, regarding his ‘memory journal’ and the rings: he refused to write about them at all. 

On the off chance that someone somehow got access to the doc and read it, that would be bad enough. But if he talked about the fighting in there? There were more consequences than he could imagine to that.

Of course, that led to him forgetting a fairly large amount of information regarding the rings - mostly pertaining to himself - but that was just something he lived with. If he didn’t know it, there was even less chance of someone else knowing. 

The mask he wore was somewhat of a caricature of himself. Split between black and white, with two different colored dots for eyes, part of him wondered how nobody had found him out, yet. He was glad, but it was funny. 

The biggest similarity and the biggest difference, though, between his and Dream’s mask, was the frown. Contrasting the crudely drawn smiley face on Dream’s mask, Ranboo’s own had a frown scribbled across it. 

How fitting, ha.

He shoved his way through the crowd, biting back any apologies or ‘excuse me’s as he made his way to the back. He planted a gloved hand on the wall when he got there, if only to further ground himself in the sea of noise and flashing light.

Nothing was quite as disorienting as Hypixel, Ranboo found. Even the smaller rings, with rougher shoves and louder swears, not to mention more bloodloss, couldn’t come close to how out-of-touch Hypixel made one feel. 

He had to find different ways to keep his mind tethered to his body through the waves of fighting, and touch was one of them. Pressing his back to the wall, he took in a deep breath - or, as deep a breath he could take, with the mask and all. 

He was near one of the many leaderboards posted around the entire Hypixel area, this one specifically related to the fights he’d just taken part in. Skywars, somewhat of a free for all. A battle royale. And not the kind of fight you go through five times in a row. 

He couldn’t really read it, and didn’t really want to. Between how dizzy he was - from fighting, exhaustion, and the constant movement around him - and how unreliable the lighting was, he could barely make out a single name. He found he was at the bottom of the list, high enough to show up but not high enough to garner attention, but scowled beneath his mask, anyways. To show up at all wasn’t something he wanted. He was here to get enough money to buy groceries that week, not for glory or whatever. 

He didn’t enjoy the fighting. The people on leaderboards did. He did not want to be a person on a leaderboard. 

Scanning over the list again, he caught a glimpse of a vaguely familiar name, but shrugged it off. The fighter hadn’t been active in the ring in years, if the ‘last fight’ date stamped next to the name was anything to go by. 

Pushing himself away from the wall, he started to make his way for the exit. He had his money, he had no more reason to stay. 

The cool nighttime air was a major relief, and it took everything he had not to slump against the outside wall of the ring. The still darkness, the refreshing air, the quiet , made the outdoors feel like an entirely different world to the place he’d just left. 

Usually, he didn’t like walking around at not all that much. The dangers of getting jumped, or mugged, were too much of a hassle. Especially to someone that just left a place where he was constantly getting jumped and possibly mugged, to make money. 

Tonight, though, he found it fine. Not great, not awful, but fine. He let himself relish in it, but wanted nothing more than to get home as soon as possible. 

Could he just skip the dumpster duffel bag for the night and go straight home? Get changed at home, then bring his things out tomorrow to hide under the dumpster duffel bag? There was nothing stopping him, and he was awfully tired.

He shook his head, scolding himself. He couldn’t get lazy, and he couldn’t let down his guard. If his parents came home early, or if someone caught him sneaking around tomorrow, he was had. It was better to stick to his routine. It had yet to fail him, why stop just for the sake of getting home quicker?

Upon reaching the alley he’d most commonly stuffed his mask and such in, he took a moment to glance around. Make sure no one was following him, and make sure no one would happen across him by accident. 

Nothing. Good. 

He ducked into the alleyway, reaching up to untie his mask. He instantly took in a big gulp of air, letting it out slowly like it was the last breath he’d ever get. A common ritual on nights like these, where he exerted himself too far just to get things over with faster. 

Next, the gloves and crown. The gloves were necessary - the places he went to were disgusting , he wasn’t about to touch anything there with his bare hands - but the crown was mostly decoration. It drew attention away from what one could see of his hair, and drew attention away from his height . People assumed he wore stilts, or heels, to complete some kind of look . He could explain away any hybrid characteristics with some kind aesthetic or look . 

Very handy to be able to do. 

Then, the suit. 

God, the suit .

Why he made a suit a staple of his look, he’ll never truly know or understand. It was stuffy, hard to move in, and hard to keep clean. More often than not, he just let it stay gross and dirty, since nobody in the underground really cared . They didn’t have standards for clothing. But it was uncomfortable as all hell, and by far his least favorite part of the Enderwalk persona he’d created. 

Still, it served its purpose, similar to the crown. And, well, he’d gone this long sticking with it, why stop now?

He always had a hoodie and pants ready to change into in the duffel bag, swapping them out on his way to and fro. The change of clothes, he changed often, every time he came and went. These were his Ranboo clothes, his normal clothes. They were meant to be somewhat presentable. 

In his hoodie pocket, covered in a plastic bag just in case, was his phone, alight with notifications. Something he’d gotten used to over the past few days.

It had been 4 days since he was added to the ‘Cool People’ chatroom. 2 days since he’d been dragged back to Phil’s (he learned the man’s full name was Philza Minecraft which was cool no matter how you looked at it) to take out his stitches. 

He hadn’t known a day of quiet since joining the chat. He was eternally grateful for his earlier decision to turn off external alerts for group chats; none of the notifications buzzed or pinged, making his life much easier than if he hadn’t done that.

It was nice, though. Knowing he had a group of people that wanted to know him. That knew he existed at all. 

He hadn’t been incredibly active in the chat. He’d send a message or two every so often, but he wasn’t constantly messaging the chat like some of the others members. Mostly, he settled for watching the conversations, laughing at the antics of his - acquaintances? He didn’t want to call them all friends, but he was definitely on good terms with all of them. 

Or, he hoped he was on good terms with all of them. 

He shoved the closed duffel bag underneath the trash can with his foot, one hand in his pocket as the other tossed out the bag that temporarily housed his phone. As he walked out and away from the alley, he shoved his hand into his pocket and wrapped his hand around his phone. A comfort he appreciated, really. 

The walk home proved itself, so far, to be uneventful. He was, for once, growing bored as he dragged his feet along. Now that his nerves weren’t going haywire at any possible threat, the walk was, as stated, boring. 

He looked around again, just to see if there was anyone around, and pulled his phone out. He took his time unlocking it, not really in any rush beyond his own desire to get home. Opening the chat, he cracked a grin at the rapidfire messages assaulting his phone. God, he loved his friends.

He stopped. Oh. That was new. 

They were...friends? 

He didn’t know what to make of that. Too tired to deal with this, he was, and so he continued walking and glancing down at the chat. 

-

‘cool people only (11 days since last injury!)’

Wilbur(dye shop): i’m just saying

Wilbur(dye shop): if they didn’t want me to eat them, why put them on display like that?

Phil(nice med): Because, dearest son,

Phil(nice med): usually, people have the common knowledge not to eat

Phil(nice med): FUCKING HAND SOAP

Wilbur(dye shop): Hand sanitizer*

Phil(nice med): brb, getting the belt

Wilbur(dye shop): father dearest have i ever told you how much i love you

Phil(nice med): too fucking late

Quackity(beanie): can you have your family discourse in dms??

Tubbo(short): but its entertaingring

Fundy(nice coworker): hes right lmao

Wilbur(dye shop): FUNDY

Tubbo(short): arent oyu also in the family???

Fundy(nice coworker): lmao yeah

Ranboo: i cannot tell if any of you are actually related or if you just joke about it too much

Fundy(nice coworker): wilbur is actually my dad! 

Fundy(nice coworker): and phil is my granfather <3

Phil(nice med): in title only

Tubbo(short): its alrways funny to wacth phil ahate his own grandson lol

Ranboo: but???

Ranboo: isnt wilbur like 

Ranboo: in his late twenties???

Ranboo: fundy you're in college there's no way you're wils son???

Wilbur(dye shop): thats what we tell people

Wilbur(dye shop): the twenties thing.

Phil(nice med): did we never tell Ranboo?

Ranboo: i do not know what you're talking about.

Phil(nice med): wil n i are both immortal. our aging slows when our brains stop growing lol

Phil(nice med): we don't know about fundy, he's still pretty young

Ranboo: huh. 

Ranboo: neat.

Tubbo(short): calmest reaction tp that yet adsbhjdfk

Ranboo: i go to school with someone that has 193 eyes and no ears

Ranboo: according to them at least

Tubbo(short): o yeah amanda

Tubbo(short): theyre nice !!!

Ranboo: they are, they just make no biological sense

Ranboo: tbf neither does any hybrid

Phil(nice med): yeahhh hybrids are like that

Purpled(helps with mmry): why in the name of fuck are you all awake at 1 am

Tubbo(short): why are you awake big man?

Ranboo: ^^

Purpled(helps with mmry): took a trip to the rings, whats your excuse?

Phil(nice med): oh shit, any injuries or anything???

Purpled(helps with mmry): nah, im good

Purpled(helps with mmry): still waiting on that excuse

Ranboo: rings??

Purpled(helps with mmry): dont worry about it

Ranboo: ominous, thank you

-

Ranboo closed the chat at record speed, racing to stuff his phone away in his pocket. He was on his street, now, nearing his house, but his heart was beating fast. He couldn't hear his own thoughts over the sound of his pulse.

Okay, yeah. He'd have to stay careful in the rings.

________

Techno was having a weird day. 

He'd just wanted to go grocery shopping. He was just going to go to the store, get the groceries, then get back home. No social interaction beyond the cashier.

But no, no, life had to test him at every turn and corner. Literally. He had turned the corner on the way to store and bam, crying child.

Okay, not a child. A teen, probably. He wasn't a kid expert. Still, crying. Painfully, might he add.

He looked around, finding nobody else reacting. What? Weren't people meant to care at least minimally when someone was crying on the sidewalk? That was the whole point of crying?

Techno looked back to the kid, taking a step closer with his hands raised like the kid was about to attack him. They were pressing themself about as far against the wall as they could, as if they could somehow phase through if they tried hard enough. They were curled up on the ground, as well, trying to make themself as small as possible. It...struck a little too close to home, watching this kid try so hard to make themself invisible to any onlookers, but he shrugged that aside.

He knelt down - that was something to do with panicking people, right? - and cleared his throat to let the kid know he was there. Heterochromatic eyes met his with a yelp, moving away not even a second later. He looked down, as well - kid looked to be an ender hybrid or something. Eye contact probably wasn't going to help him.

Thinking of it, crying definitely wasn't helping, either. Water burnt endermen, didn't it?

One thing at a time. Okay. 

"Hey, uh," he started, cringing back at how awkward he sounded. "Are you okay?" He tried his hand at a smile, making an attempt at comforting, but it felt more like a grimace. Judging by the kid's own expression, it was definitely more like a grimace. Yikes, where was Phil when you needed him?

The boy was quiet, apart from the occasional sniffle, but slowly shook his head. Techno nodded his own, running a hand through his hair and starting to stand up.

"I'd ask how I can help, but uh…" he trailed off for a second, glancing around at the busy to and fro of the townsfolk, then back to the boy. He held out a hand, hoping so deeply that it didn't seem as painfully awkward as it felt. "...this really ain't a good place for a panic attack. Uh, we can head over to the dye shop? I know the guy on shift right now, so you can hide out in the back room until yer calmer," he offered, jabbing his free thumb down the street, where he knew Wilbur was working right now. Which also happened to be in the opposite direction from the grocery store.

His day was getting just a little off track. 

The boy stared blankly at the hand offered to him, occasionally looking back up to Techno. Did he think he was punking him? That the minute he reached to take the hand, Techno would yank it back and laugh?

...Not that there wasn't a small voice in the back of his mind murmuring about how funny that would be, but he wouldn't do that. Probably. Most likely. 

Eventually, the kid tentatively grabbed his hand, using it to help him stand up. He nodded, still not saying a word, and Techno just nodded back. He turned to start the trek to the dye shop, letting go of the kid's hand.

Oh, wait. "I'm Techno, by the way. You?" Stranger danger. Kid at least deserved to know the guy - technically, he was kidnapping, wasn't he? The victim was willing, but still. If he didn't have a history of illegal activity, he might have been put off by that fact.

Instead, he had to hold back a snort at the idea, finding it funnier than he should.

"Um, Ranboo…" the boy said, voice scratched to hell and back. Techno held back a wince- that's gotta hurt to talk. 

They neared the shop, and Techno hummed, to show he heard him. "Neat name."

"You too."

The conversation stilled there, and Techno didn't try to remedy it. He settled for stewing in silence, sending glances back to Ranboo to make sure the kid didn't get napped by some other less-well-intentioned criminal. 

Okay, technically, he wasn't a criminal. He didn't have a criminal record or anything. If nobody knows you broke the law, did you break the law at all? 

In Technoblade's opinion, no. No you did not.

They reached the dye shop, and he had to stop himself from sighing with relief, reaching for the door instead. Opening the door, he stepped aside, motioning for Ranboo to go in first. As the boy passed him, Techno took note of how tall the kid was. Christ, how did he not notice that before? He must have been nearly 7', holy crap.

"Welcome to Dyeing Ghost Dye Shop, can I help you with anything?" The familiar chirp sounded from across the room while Techno walked in, shutting the door behind him with a jingle of the bell. He locked eyes with his friend, and Wilbur blinked at him, face breaking out of the fake grin he had plastered to his face 24/7. "Oh, Techno, thank fuck. What's up?"

He huffed at the elegant choice of words, gesturing to the stolen child. "We're gonna duck into the break room for a sec," he said, not bothering to ask. Wilbur laughed at the bluntness of his statement, leaning forward o the counter.

"Go right ahead, I'm not about to stop you. I will pester you about you ghosting the group chat, though," he said, grinning sharply. Techno paused, then groaned at the pun, pointedly ignoring Wilbur pointing the the sign on the counter displaying the shop's name. "Seriously, though. It's been, what, two months since you sent a single message? Most of us don't even know you're alive, still." Wilbur shut his mouth for a second, thinking over his words, then corrected himself, "Most of us that don't know Phil."

Techno rolled his eyes, looking over to Ranboo to make some snarky comment to find the boy muttering to himself. Like he was about to make some groundbreaking discovery. 

Wilbur caught notice of it, as well. "Who's your friend here, anywho?" He asked, tilting his head. 

"Ah, that's Ranboo." He had to hope he was saying the name right, he only really heard it once and the kid had been mumbling. 

Wilbur shot up at that, though, and Techno instinctively took a step back. "Ranboo?!" He echoed, slamming his hands on the counter. He could've sworn he heard Ranboo mutter something about 'runs in the friend group', but brushed it off. "You're the kid that got stabbed, yeah?"

Techno did a double-take at that, swerving his head to see Ranboo nodding. What? What? "Yeah, uh, that was me. I'm good now, though." He gave Wil a thumbs up and a horribly forced smile. He could not have looked more uncomfortable with the situation if he tried. 

Wilbur, if he did notice, didn't comment on it, bambling right on ahead. "I'm Wilbur, from the chat room! Techno's also in the chat, but I'm pretty sure he has do not disturb turned on constantly, so he's mostly there in spirit." Techno shot him a glare, but only got a playful grin in response. Wilbur turned to him, waving a hand in Ranboo's direction. "Ranboo got added to the group chat you are so adamantly avoiding a week or two ago." Ranboo nodded, as if to confirm whatever Wilbur said.

"You, uh, you mentioned a stabbing?" He said, not even trying to hide his concern. Wilbur just laughed, though.

"Yeah, Dream found him bleeding out and took him to Phil to get patched up. I'm surprised you didn't bump into him while he was at your house," he explained.

Techno grunted, ultimately done with the conversation. So what if he's a hermit? He's a perfectly happy social recluse. 

"Aww, is Techno grumpy he missed the fresh blood?" He grumbled an insult at the poorly hidden jab, glaring whole-heartedly at Wilbur. "Changed ways, I get it, whatever. My shift ends in 20, so you've got the break room until quarter to 2, got it?"

He nodded and dragged Ranboo out of the main area of the shop, ignoring the confused look he got in return. 

__________

-

'cool people only (15 days since last injury!)'

Techno(lives w phil): phil can i murder your son

Phil(nice med): mate i thought you were retired?

Techno(lives w phil): retirement over. im fighting him now.

Wilbur(dye shop): i cant believe techno has risen from the grave

Wilbur(dye shop): just to kill me

Wilbur(dye shop): society

Purpled(avoid qs): L

Quackity(beanie): L

Fundy(nice coworker): L

Wilbur(dye shop): MY OWN SON

Wilbur(dye shop): THE BETRAYAL THE AGONY

Wilbur(dye shop): going dark dhmu smh

Techno(lives w phil): cry about it.

Ranboo: i am mildly afraid to ask whats happening

Techno(lives w phil): oh i forgot about the new kid

Techno(lives w phil): hey

Ranboo: oh hi!

Ranboo: you're the guy with pink hair right?

Techno(lives w phil): yup

Purpled(avoid qs): ranboo remembers us by the most random things huh

Ranboo: i have memory issues how dare you /hj

Ranboo: if it works it works 

Purpled(avoid qs): o wait actually?

Ranboo: yeah lol

Ranboo: I have an entire doc dedicated to writing things down

Ranboo: so i don't forget them lmao

Techno(pink): how does one's memory even get that bad

Phil(nice med): you don't have to answer if you dont want to

Phil(nice med): tech has negative filter

Techno(pink): how rude

Techno(pink): i do have a filter, it just doesnt care about you

Ranboo: going to cry brb /j

Ranboo: but genuinely i do not remember how my memory got this bad.

Ranboo: andskjlfngb

Purpled(avoid qs): thats a hot lie if ive ever heard one

Wilbur(dye shop): how do you hear texts?

Purpled(avoid qs): a. text-to-speech

Purpled(avoid qs): b. shut up

Tommy(loud): GET OWNED BITCH

Techno(pink): oh gross the child's here see ya

Tommy(loud): OH FUCK YOU TOO TECHNOBLADE

-

Ranboo sagged against his couch, letting his phone fall to the floor. Oh, yikes, hope it didn't crack.

Crisis averted. 

Purpled genuinely terrified him. 

How did he know that was a lie? How did he just sniff out Ranboo's entire existence? What?

He lazily dragged his gaze over to the clock hanging above the living room entryway. Two hours until his shift. That was enough time for a nap, right?

He hadn't been sleeping for the past few days. Not on purpose or anything. When he laid down to rest, he just...couldn't. At first, he tried to tire himself out by going back out to Hypixel. After all, nothing made him more tired for a good few days than fighting until 1 in the morning.

But then that just didn't work, and he was at a loss. 

He was tired. He knew he was tired. He had a whole breakdown on the side of the street over nothing because of how tired he was. But when he tried to sleep, his eyes couldn't close. Metaphorically. 

He didn't really get why this was happening, but he didn't really care about the why. He cared about the effect it was having on him. He couldn't focus in class, he was falling asleep during school, he was having breakdowns on the side of the road . Worst of all, poor sleep meant he couldn't fight , and no fighting meant no money.

Well, okay, he did still have an income. The ice cream shop helped him somewhat. But it was nowhere near enough to live comfortably. He could skate by on the funds he got from his shifts, but just surviving was nowhere near good enough for him. That was the whole reason why he got into the fighting rings in the first place!

...he thought. He didn't really know. Again, he never wrote anything regarding the rings down, so his memories related to the ring were hazy at best. He couldn't recall much of anything, unless it was recent. 

Like, if one were to wake up in the middle of the night, then go back to sleep. Vaguely, you know you woke up. The next day, you have the memory of waking up, and you know you were fully aware when you were awake. But, still, you just can't recall anything from when you were awake.

That was what the ring felt like to him. As much as he hated it, though, he didn't have much of a choice with his involvement. 

Which brought back his issue. He couldn't fight if he couldn't focus, and he couldn't focus if he couldn't sleep.

He may as well try to get a decent nap in before work. With a sigh, he flopped against the back of the couch, covering his eyes and relaxing. 

He just wanted to sleep.

______________

Ranboo was late for work. 

Normally, if a coworker was late to work, Fundy would let himself be upset for a total of eight seconds before moving on. Work wasn't going to wait for him to be petty and upset.

But this was Ranboo. Ranboo who got stabbed, Ranboo who he was kinda-sorta-friends with, Ranboo who had never missed a shift before. Ranboo, who was one of the only people Fundy could tolerate working with.

He allowed himself the worry when Ranboo continued not showing up.

It was possible he was just late. Maybe he was sleeping, maybe he got caught up in something else, maybe he forgot . He did that, apparently. Fundy didn't notice the poor memory thing at all until Ranboo mentioned it in the chat, but it was something he knew now, and it was a possibility. Of course, he had never up and forgotten about work before, but first time for everything, right?

Fundy checked the chat room when his break finally came around. 15 minutes to hope Ranboo suddenly showed up so he could yell at him for making him worry and find comfort in knowing that no, nothing had been wrong, and he had been worried for nothing. 

Ranboo hadn't messaged the chat since Purpled had pointed out his lying. If he had even lied. Purpled was notorious in their friend group for being paranoid, so it was possible he saw a lie where there was none.

He was getting distracted. 

He messaged the chat.

-

'cool people only (15 days since last injury!)'

FUNdy: has anyone seen ranboo? he hasn't shown up to work

quackster: Ain't this the third time ranboo has caused general panic in the chat

quackster: mans is very good at worrying people huh

FUNdy: i get that

FUNdy: i might be overreacting its just

FUNdy: he never misses a shift???

GRANDPA: i don't really know much about him so i can't vouch for that

GRANDPA: but I haven't seen or heard him, no

PAPÁ: same here ^^

nikii!!: I haven't seen him, no

nikii!!: that is weird, though. I'll dm him.

FUNdy: okie okie

colorman: is it possible he just

colorman: forgot

colorman: bc he said earlier that he does that a lot

FUNdy: yeah but like. he hasn't forgotten work before??

oreo: IM SOR SORRY

oreo: I TOTALLY SLEOT THROUHG THEB ALRM

oreo: IM OMW THNAK YOU NIKI FOR WWAKING ME

quackster: lmao isnt it like 4pm?

quackster: why were you sleeping 

oreo: haven t been lseeping well past few days

oreo: tookm a nasp

oreo: didnt wake up

colorman: L

quackster: L

PAPÁ: L

PAPÁ: You're okay though?

oreo: o hw yeah totallyh

oreo: jsut dumb lol

oreo: im here fundy sorry again

FUNdy: It's okay!!! i'm glad you're okay!

-

The front entrance was thrown open as the whirlwind that was Ranboo sprinted inside, skidding to a halt at the counter and vaulting over. Fundy looked up from his phone with both awe and incredulity written on his face. 

"You can just walk around like a normal person," he said, laughing as he put his phone away. Ranboo stuck out his tongue, putting on his apron and making his way to the cashier. 

"Gotta make a cool entrance, especially if I'm late. Haven't you heard the saying, 'fashionably late'? I have to make good on the fashionable part," Ranboo said, puffing out his chest with a poorly contained grin. Fundy just shook his head and smiled, walking up to the counter from where he'd been taking his break. "Slow day?"

"Slow day, you lucky asshole," he answered, nodding with total seriousness for a record 5 seconds before laughing again. 

They were fine. Everything was fine. 

_____________

Everything was not fine, Ranboo decided as he sprinted down the street.

He'd made the mistake of going down to a smaller ring. He'd gone in the silly, foolish hopes that he would be pitted against some weaker fighters than in Hypixel, and that he would be fine to fight even with the telltale signs of sleep deprivation naggin at his brain. 

He was not pitted against some weaker fighters. 

His mask and accessories had been long since abandoned, but he didn't have time to change out of the suit. 

It wasn't like he was getting chased or anything. If he was, he wouldn't have taken the mask off at all, no matter how hard to breathe it was getting with all the running he was doing. What he was, though, was beaten to a (excuse his language) fucking bloody pulp . 

Not actually. He wouldn't be running if that were the case. But, god, he needed to get to Niki's fast, and running was the fastest way to get there. He couldn't waste time messaging her beforehand, which he would be apologetic for later, when he didn't feel like he'd die with every movement of every muscle.

He was pretty sure his right arm was broken. His ankle was definitely sprained, with the way it was screaming at him every time he kicked off the ground. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping him going, god forbid he stopped for even a second and let it wear off. If he slowed down, he wouldn't be able to speed back up.

That wasn't mentioning the bloody nose, black eye, and the bruises covering him from head to toe. He was pretty sure one of the had a knife, too, since they always seemed to in the smaller rings.

The worst part about smaller rings: nobody enforced the rules. If there were even rules to begin with. Most of his haunts did have some kind of rule, one way of another, but apparently he'd stumbled onto a free for all kind of place.

They'd sniffed him out right away. He didn't know if it was the way he dressed, his lack of communication, or if he was just targeted for being a newcomer, but he was backed into a corner before he could scream 'uncle'. It was him against however many people were in the group, more seemed to join in every second. He barely snuck out from under their noses, not thinking twice before bolting the hell out of there. 

It was stupid. He was stupid. He should have just gone to Hypixel. No, he shouldn't have gone out at all. He should have just stayed home and dealt without electronics and warm food until he could fix his sleep schedule and get back to normal.

But he didn't, and there was no fixing the past, so here he was. Feverishly banging on the flower shop door, ignoring the blinking 'closed' sign because he knew that Niki was on shift and both of them knew nobody else would be so desperate to get in.

The door was opened from the inside, and he practically fell in, pitching forward the second he no longer had to keep himself upright at risk of death. 

He heard a surprised shout, and hurried footsteps from further inside the shop, and winced despite his lack of a grasp on anything happening. Was Niki not the only person working? Shoot, he was being a burden, wasn't he?

Regardless of his social anxiety and need to please anyone and everyone, he was rapidly losing consciousness, which he tried to inform the person holding him of. All that came out, though, was a series of chirps and trills, his mind apparently too boggled to make any comprehensive sentences. 

He caught a glimpse of Niki rushing towards him, and tried to smile. He coughed, instead, but the sentiment was there.

He managed to croak out a "sorry," before promptly passing out, giving into the numb bliss of sleep.

Chapter Text

-

'cool people only (17 days since last injury!)'

Puffy!: first things first:

Puffy! changed the chat name to: 'cool people only (0 days since last injury)'

hitlist: ITS BEEN EVEN LESS TIME 

hitlist: WHO THE FUCK

Philza: tommy.

hitlist: yes Philza Minecraft

Philza: language motherfucker

hitlist: of course

hitlist: whomst* the fuck

me: tommy this is serious

hitlist: well you haven't said anything about who was injured or how

hitlist: so i have no reason not to be the funniest person alive

Puffy!: second of all, we need help

Puffy!: we were closing shop, when I heard banging at the door

Puffy!: so I went to check it out and there was a kid who looked about beaten within an inch of his life

Puffy!: but niki won't let me call 911 or bring him to a hospital

Puffy!: and told me to change the chat name while she brought him to the back

Philza: Niki?

me: i know what to do, don't worry about that!

Dream: Who was it, though?? they have to be in the chat to count

hitlist: says the guy that counted ranboob before he was even added

me: speaking of Ranboo, actually

hitlist: IS IT THAT BTICTH AGAIN????????

me: yes ^^

Philza: you're awfully calm about this

Philza: has this happened before?

Philza: with Ranboo, at least.

me: are you in any place to question me about this, Philza?

me: if i recall, you reacted fairly similarly when the same thing happened to dream, i believe it was?

Dream: Yes, but that was years ago

Dream: plus I was still hopping rings

Dream: the only person in this chat in a similar situation to back then would be purple?

-

Niki frowned at her phone, looking to the boy laid across the break room couch. She wasn't lying when she said this was far from the first time this happened, but Ranboo had asked her not to tell the chat about him fighting, hadn't he?

This did count as danger. She could let them know why he's so injured, and why it's so normal for him even though it really shouldn't be. But...he trusted her. Enough to be the first person he contacted whenever he was in a tight spot. 

It would be breaking his trust for a good reason, but breaking his trust anyways. 

Surely, there was a way to go about this to get him help without giving him away, right?

She gnawed on her lip, staring at Ranboo with concern. Nothing was spectacularly out of place, that she could see so far. His jacket was hanging on the employees coat rack, and she'd had to unbutton his shirt to check for any injuries on his chest, but she could only find bruises and minor cuts. No immediate danger.

Though, his arm and ankle were swollen. She wasn't sure on the ankle, but she had seen her fair share of broken bones, and the arm seemed cracked. It wasn't in need of surgery - nothing sticking out and, she hoped, no bone fragments - but she still needed to treat it like any broken bone. 

And that was just what she could see. She wasn't a medical professional; Ranboo was the main reason she knew this much in the first place. 

The door swung open, and she turned to see Puffy standing in the doorway. Her face was conflicted, and while Niki felt bad for making her go against what she's been taught to do in any similar situation, she had to. She appreciated it, at least. She was going to make this up to Puffy big time later.

-

'cool people only (0 days since last injury)'

me: i can't answer your questions

me: i'm not the person to ask, anyways

me: but Puffy was right. we need help.

Dream: What can we do?

me: Phil, are you still here?

Philza: Yes. Techno and Edward are here, too.

Wil: can't techno let us know himself??

Philza: he doesn't have his phone on him, sorry

me: it's fine. Phil, can you + the others come to the flower shop for general medical help?

Philza: Edward doesn't have any medical exp

me: he's an ender hybrid though, right? he can help if we miss anything on that front

Philza: Alright, we'll be right over.

me: does anyone else know where his house is?

me: if not, then can anyone spare a change of clothes that could fit a 7' teen?

hitlist: i dont know abt his house, but wil prob has clothes

Wil: ok gremlin child way to sign me up

Wil: but yea i can bring some clothes over

Wil: tommy can take notes for him in class tomorrow

hitlist: oh fuck you

hitlist: i will but im only in his historyclass

Purpled: I'm in one of his other classes, I'll also get notes for him

me: Wil or Phil, can you ask Fundy to cover his shifts for the next few days when you next see him?

me: since he isn't online

Wil: Yeah, I will

me: thank you

Wil: np

-

Niki let out a sigh, turning her phone off and leaning back in her chair. Puffy called out from the front, alerting her of Phil's arrival.

By the time he, Techno, and Edward were inside the shop, Ranboo had begun to stir. She was at his side in an instant, brushing his hair back and out of his face as his eyes started to focus. 

His breathing quickly grew erratic as he woke up, and Niki found herself panicking with him. She never did know what to do when this happened. 

"Ranboo," she said, lowering her voice so as not to startle him too much. Still, he flinched at her voice, crawling into a sitting position and curling away from her. "Ranboo, it's Niki. It's me. I'm not anyone else, I'm not going to hurt you." She made no move towards him, waiting for any sort of response. 

His eyes landed on her, then behind her, recognition barely sparking as his shoulders sagged. He let himself be (gently) shoved back onto the couch by Niki, still looking behind her.

She glanced over her shoulder. Phil was stood in the door, a first aid kit in hand. He smiled and waved, and she nodded back, scooting aside. Phil walked up beside her, shooting Ranboo a smile as well as he knelt down. 

"Sup," he said, setting the kit down and opening it. Ranboo stared blankly at him before slowly nodding, glancing back to the doorway. 

"Who, um-" he coughed, rough and scratchy to hear. Niki winced. "-who is…?" He trailed off, shaking too much to talk very well. Niki followed his gaze, seeing someone else in the doorway that she didn't recognize. 

Edward, she assumed it was, was far too tall for the flower shop. She felt bad, making a mental note to bring up the height of the doors to the owner next time she talked to them. The ender hybrid waved with an entrancingly long hand, looking just past everyone in the room. Phil didn't look back to Edward, shrugging as he motioned for Ranboo to give him his arm.

"That's Edward, one of my housemates," he explained, calmer than Niki had expected him to be. While they talked, Ranboo tried to hold his arm out, only to hiss when his shoulder moved in the slightest. "He's also an enderman, like you. He's mostly here for moral support, since he doesn't have much experience with these kinds of things. Do you think you can move your thumb?"

Ranboo narrowed his eyes, then shook his head, his thumb not moving an inch. Across the room, ducking his head so he could enter the room, Edward muttered something under his breath in response to Phil. Niki couldn't make out what he'd said, but she saw one of Ranboo's ears flick over towards Edward. The boy cracked a grin, repeating whatever Edward has said in a murmur to himself. 

"Your arm's most likely broken, I do believe." Ranboo looked back to Phil and steeled his expression. "It isn't out of place, though, so we'll just sling it for now and hope for the best. How's your other arm?"

"It's, uh, fine," Ranboo choked out, moving said arm up and down with little problem. It was still littered with bruises, but the most they could do about that was ice and wrap it. 

Same with the rest of him, they found. While his arm was broken, and his ankle was still swelling just a little more than the bruises, most of his injuries were fairly minor. There was just an abundance of them. 

Phil got to work on the broken arm, shooting a glance at the bad ankle. "I don't know what's up there, but stay off it until it feels fine. And rest, for everything. If any of the younguns see you in school, they'll drag you back home by the ear." He paused in his work, laughing quietly to himself. "I wouldn't even have to tell them to."

Ranboo mirrored the laugh with his own, meek as it was. The elephant in the room was weighing hard on him, Niki could tell, and he was refusing to let himself relax until someone ripped the bandage off. Metaphorically. 

Niki cleared her throat, sat across the room now to give him room. "I didn't tell them anything. It's not my place to say anything," she told him, expression softening at the relief clear in his face. "It's up to you if you want to tell them or not."

Phil was acting like he wasn't even there for the current conversation, wrapping up Ranboo's bad arm with almost expert gentleness. Edward was pressed to the wall next to the door, looking both incredibly out of place and uncomfortable. Faintly, she could hear Techno and Puffy talking at the counter, voices hushed to avoid disrupting whatever was going on in the room over. 

Ranboo looked up at Niki, pensive for a second. "I...really don't want to…" He said, reminding Niki of a kid begging their parent to let them stay home from school. Albeit, much quieter and politer. 

She smiled, shrugging. "Then you don't have to. They'll understand," she assured him, nodding her head to Phil. The man in question hummed, putting Ranboo's arm in a sling (where did he even get that those aren't part of any aid kits).

"Mhm. You don't have to tell us anything until your ready," he reaffirmed, leaning back a little to make almost-eye contact with the boy. "Unless this becomes a trend. Then we're having a talk no matter what." The tone was joking, but the undertones were still there. He was being serious. 

Ranboo chuckled, anyways, and nodded. "Okay. Thank you."

Phil and Niki nodded back. "It's no problem," he said.

______________

-

'cool people only (0 days since last injury)'

rabid: the chat kinda died there

rabid: how is ranboo

wilbur: dunno, i'm omw w/ the clothes

wilbur: should i just drop them off? i don't want to overwhelm him or anything

nihachu: yeah, just drop them off, thank you

wilbur: np, hows he?

nihachu: he's alright now

nihachu: mostly bruises, he'll be fine as long as he rests

nihachu: according to philza*

Me. : ok, good to know.

wilbur: techno arent you also at the flower shop lololol

Me. : dont judge me ive been banished to the counter

Me. : me and the sheep are having a wonderful conversation about how much we hate the newest town cult

rival: you mean the weird company thats been rising recently? eggpire or whatever?

rival: bc theyve confirmed they arent a cult

Me. : thats what they all say

Me. : then BAM

Me. : its a cult

wilbur: sam was involved in that wasnt he??

wilbur: and he said it was basically a pyramid scheme on a larger scale

fluffy hair: he was, yeah

fluffy hair: we were friends with the face of the company

fluffy hair: bad

Me. : then he tried to get you into the cult?

fluffy hair: then he tried to get us into the cult

wilbur: how is sam?

rival: ^^^

fluffy hair: he's good!

fluffy hair: he's been busy with police stuff lately, but he's more free now

rival: police???

rival: he works for the police???????

fluffy hair: nah he just vibes with them im pretty sure

violent child: add him lol

fluffy hair: why?

fluffy hair: also Dream would have to add him

violent child: almost half of us are involved with something illegal

violent child: i think itd be funny

Me. : violent child is absolutely right

violent child: wow my own technoblade nickname

violent child: i must flaunt this to the world

Me. : you're gonna get jumped

violent child: and?

rival: its purpled's world and we're just living in it huh

violent child: never forget

wilbur: clothes: dropped off

wilbur: technoblade: active in the chat

wilbur: ranboo: not dying

rabid: HOTEL: TRIVAGO

wilbur: oh the child is still here!

rabid: FUCK YOU WILBUR WILBITCH FUCK YOU

wilbur: vulgar child, rude child

Me. : ha

wilbitch: techno youd better not have changed my name in your phone

wilbitch: techno you dont even swear youd better not

wilbitch: technoblade answer me

Me. : lol

wilbitch: TECHNOBLADE

-

He snorted at his phone, putting it away. He looked up, and was immediately met with the sight of a smiling Captain Puffy, who looked far too smug for his liking.

"...what?" He cautiously asked, raising an eyebrow. She raising her hands placatingly, shaking her head with the same smug smile. 

"Oh, nothing, nothing," she said, entirely unconvincingly. "It's just, I never thought I'd see a soft Technoblade."

His face dropped into a scowl on instinct, a growl rising in his throat. Puffy, however, didn't seem threatened at all, barking out a laugh at his reaction. 

"It's not bad," she hurried to explain, "not at all! I think it's nice."

He frowned, deeper, not quite believing her. "What's nice?" 

She glanced down at her own phone for a second. "The fact that you have people you can smile around, dude. Whenever I hear people talk about you, it's always about how angry and difficult you are," she said with a laugh, like it was a joke. It probably was, to her, after seeing him smiling . Ew. 

"That's 'cause I am," he grumbled, leaning back against the counter. "Angry and difficult. All the time, without fail." He was just saying things, at this point. He didn't believe it, and neither did Puffy, who was nodding along and emptily agreeing. 

"No, yeah, I believe you," she said, failing to hold back a laugh. Technoblade groaned, running a hand over his face with mock betrayal.

"Noo, my reputation. My subs, what'll I do?" The dead tone of his voice really sold the agony, if he did say so himself, and Puffy burst out laughing yet again. 

____________

-

'Niki(flower shop), Ranboo'

Niki(flower shop): Are you sure you're okay going home?

Ranboo: phil's dropping me off there anyways, so yeah

Niki(flower shop): i'm more concerned about you staying around an empty house all day and night

Niki(flower shop): especially since you have to rest for a little while

Ranboo: i'll be fine niki!

Ranboo: i appreciate the concern, but really, i'm okay now

Ranboo: thank you, again

Niki(flower shop): i'm more than glad to help ranboo

Niki(flower shop): be sure to let the gc know you're okay, though

Niki(flower shop): they're worried sick about you

Ranboo: oh yikes don't like that

Niki(flower shop): ranboo they care about you

Ranboo: i dont know man

Ranboo: that's a lot of pressure

Niki(flower shop): very funny, now get home

Ranboo: yes ma'am :salut:

-

'cool people only (0 days since last injury)'

Ranboo: contrary to popular belief, i am not dead

Tubbo(short): damn

Tubbo(short): we'll get em next time

Ranboo: thank you so much for caring tubbo very much appreciated

Tubbo(short): it is no problemo 

Tubbo(short): actally tho, glad your okay

Wilbur(dye shop): ^^^

Wilbur(dye shop): same here

Dream(stab wound): this is the second time i've feared for your life 

Dream(stab wound): my heart can only take so much ranboo please

Dream(stab wound): for the love of god please stop almost dying

Ranboo: i'll try lmao

Dream(stab wound): that is so incredibly not assuring my good friend

Ranboo: :D

Techno(pink hair): edward says hes glad your home safe btw

Techno(pink hair): he's met you once and hes filling out adoption papers lol

Fundy(nice coworker): isn't edward like

Fundy(nice coworker): in college??

Techno(pink hair): yup

Quackity(beanie): do you think that would stop techno and phil's ominously mysterious roommate from doing anything?

Quackity(beanie): silly, silly furry

Fundy(nice coworker): i'll piss glass on your fucking grave

Ranboo: this is hell

Puffy(niki's coworker): oh hey dream?

Dream(stab wound): yeah??

Puffy(niki's coworker): can I add sam to the chat?

Ranboo: sam?

Dream(stab wound): oh sure, i'll give you admin for a sec

Quackity(beanie): sam is a friend, ranboo

Quackity(beanie): he works with the police sometimes but none of us rly know how or why

Quackity(beanie): he's cool though, helped me fuck dream over two months ago with a prank lolol

Dream(stab wound): i still despise you for that

Dream(stab wound): what the hell did you even need shears for?

Quackity(beanie): ~business~

Puffy(niki's coworker) has added XXX-XXX-2739 to the chat!

XXX-XXX-2739: Hello!

Fundy(nice coworker): sam hi!

Tommy(loud): SAM!!!

Sam(police?): Hello Tommy! How are you?

Tommy(loud): I AM GOOD BIG MAN

Fundy(nice coworker): alright just ignore me then

Ranboo: hey, i'm ranboo!

Sam(police?): it's nice to meet you ranboo! I'm Sam.

Phil(nice med): well this is great and all

Phil(nice med): but yall need to go to fucking sleep

Tommy(loud): yes philza minecraft of course philza minecraft

Fundy(nice coworker): goodnight grandpa!!!

Ranboo: ^^ goodnight!

Phil(nice med): goodnight, Ranboo

Quackity(beanie): ouch 

Fundy(nice coworker): shut your up.

-

Chapter Text

Ranboo was so incredibly bored. 

He didn't go to school this fine Tuesday, mostly out of fear. Tommy, Tubbo, and Purpled all went to his school - he'd have to be an idiot not to notice them by now, they were in his classes and everything - and they did not sugarcoat their words when they told him how they would drag him home by force if they had to, that morning in the group chat. 

Maybe if his parents were around, he'd have more to do. Maybe he'd have a pet of some sort, since he would actually have the time to take care of it. Maybe he'd have cable tv, nd be able to surf the different channels before ultimately giving up because the only shows that run during work and school hours are little kid's shows. Maybe he'd have one of his parents stay home from work to take care of him, make sure he was alright, give him a kiss on the forehead and tell him everything would be alright.

If his parents gave two shits about him, he wouldn't be staying home in the first place. He wouldn't have needed to make money in the first place, wouldn't have stumbled across the fighting rings, wouldn't have gotten beaten so badly at all. 

Instead, of course, he was sat on the couch with an ice pack on his ankle and his arm suspended on a pillow, waiting for a reprimanding text from his mom or dad talking about the call they'd gotten from school that day, claiming he wasn't there and had an unexcused absence.

They didn't even bother to call whenever this happened. Whenever he missed school or something of the like. They'd just text him, or wordlessly abstain from giving him the generous 10 goddamn dollars they expected him to be able to live off of. He couldn't even remember their voices. 

The last time they were home at the same time as him was two fucking years ago. Since then, they've been all over the country, all over the world , occasionally stopping by at ass o'clock in the morning to make sure the house was still there. Every month, they sent ten dollars in the mail, probably paying one of his neighbors to do it, since they didn't even know he had a bank account. Every month, he'd open the mail box with the tiniest shimmer of hope at the sight of the envelope, thinking that maybe this time they wrote, maybe they were coming home for good, only to be disappointed by the two five dollar bills sitting at the bottom 'to make it easier to break.'

If he was being honest with himself, Ranboo wouldn't want his parents to come home after all this time. He despised them, he barely knew who they were at all. Maybe if he had a normal memory and knew what they looked like, what they sounded like, how they'd treated him when they couldn't make up an excuse for leaving a 10 year old alone in a house, then he'd want to see them again, but he didn't. And it was their fault. 

If they came back, he wouldn't have parents. He'd have roommates with unrealistic expectations. And if they had the audacity to want to be a normal family, to want him to be some perfect son, then he might just explode.

But as things were, he was still alone on the couch. He kept periodically checking the group chat, out of boredom and the desperate want for human communication he'd been robbed of for the past two years, but when it was active, he didn't send a message. He knew a barrage of 'are you okay's and 'get well's were waiting for him the minute he sent a single message in the chat, so he settled for watching it. 

This was plenty entertaining on its own, anyways. Everyone else in the chat had some long-standing history behind their relationships with each other, and it was fun to watch how that affected their conversations. Some of the drama these people had been through made it feel like a reality tv show, just entirely through text. 

For example, at the moment, Sam was currently reprimanding Dream for his numerous alleged crimes, and was getting absolutely owned by Dream's ability to turn every statement against him. 

Apparently, a couple of couple in the chat had committed crimes and gotten away with it. If Ranboo had been nervous with the guy with police relations being added at first, he now found it hilarious as he watched Sam tiredly explain that yes, stealing drugs from a drug dealer is still illegal, for more reasons than one. 

-

'cool people only (1 day since last injury ranboo i swear to god)'

Sam(not police): i am begging you 

Sam(not police): don't steal drugs from drug dealers

Quackity(beanie): wouldn't the two crimes just cancel out?

Dream(stab wound): what would the two crimes be???

Quackity(beanie): possession of illegal substances and theft, dumbass

Sam(not police): two wrongs don't make a right

Sam(not police): two crimes do not make a legal activity

Sam(not police): you'll get arrested for even more

Dream(stab wound): but then you can get us out :blush:

Sam(not police): if you get arrested i'm not helping you

Sam(not police): i hate you for adding me to this chat, you're all dead to me

Tubbo(short): :(

Sam(not police): except you tubbo

Dream(stab wound): ?!?!?!?

Dream(stab wound): TUBBO IS THE ONE WHO BROUGHT IT UP IN THE FIRST PLACE???

Quackity(beanie): this is favouritism smh my head

-

He smiled to himself, scrolling up in the chat just to read through.

He was bored, yeah, but this was fine. 

_____________

"Do you think anyone knows where boob boy's house is?" Tommy asked as they walked between classes. They were on break, at the moment, and had an amazing 10 minutes to get to their next class, as opposed to the normal 5 minutes. Fantastic.

Purpled shrugged, taking out his phone. "We could probably just ask. We need to get the classwork to him, anyways," he said, not looking up to see where he was walking. Someone bumped his shoulder, and he shoved back, keeping his eyes on his screen as he pulled up the chat. 

"That's if he's even going to look at the chat," Tubbo said, hopping up beside them. Tommy jumped, hand over his heart as Tubbo appeared out of thin air, but Purpled just kept walking. Laughing at his friend, Tubbo jogged up to him. "I doubt anyone would tell us his address if they did know it. 'Wait for him to tell you himself' and all that."

Tommy scoffed, crossing his arms. "They put an awful lot of faith in him, when they barely trust us with butter knives," he complained. Purpled finally looked up, just to grin at him. 

"They don't trust you with butter knives," he corrected, earning an offended remark and blind jab from the raccoon boy.

Tubbo was laughing his ass off. "And that's 'cause you've tried stabbing Wilbur every time they give you one!" He exclaimed, dodging around Purpled to give Tommy a shove. He shoved back, and before Purpled had time to blink, they were fighting in the hall. The other students ignored them, too used to them by now to give a shit. 

Purpled didn't bat an eye in their direction, opting to text to group chat instead. 

-

'cool people only (1 day since last injury ranboo i swear to god)'

i: does anyone have ran's address?

i: need to drop off the notes after school

speedrun dude: hmmm nope

captain my captain: No clue here, sorry

mr minecraft: nop, sorry

angry bread: I actually don't, sorry purpled!

i: helpful

i: is ranboo here?? 

responses to getting stabbed: ahh hello i heard my name?

responses to getting stabbed: what's up?

i: address

i: need

i: me

responses to getting stabbed: wwwhy?

i: drop off school things

responses to getting stabbed: ah ok ok

responses to getting stabbed: i'll message you privately if thats cool?

responses to getting stabbed: i've had a few too many near death experiences to give my address away to an entire group chat lol

i: understandable

i: yeah that's okay

angry bread: he lies about the near death experiences

angry bread: he'd never almost die that easily 

angry bread: stab wound or not

speedrunning dude: wh

captain my captain: i feel like i should question why you say that

captain my captain: but you're covering my shift tomorrow so i won't

angry bread: good choice

mr minecraft: oh, what's going on with you tomorrow puffy?

captain my captain: my boy is coming to visit!! Foolish, the totem child

captain my captain: he's all grown now and i'm so proud of him

captain my captain: we're going fishing!

mr minecraft: he's the boy you adopted 8 years ago yeah?

captain my captain: it took forever to get approved, but yes!

captain my captain: he's a real and true adult now i love my son 

i: how old was he when you got him?

speedrunning dude: purpled you're great but please don't talk about adoption like a store purchase

i: i'll consider it

captain my captain: he was 14!

i: huh, neat

-

The bell rang again just as Purpled got a private message from Ranboo. Deciding he'd check it later, he pocketed his phone and started once again making his way to class, leaving Tommy and Tubbo behind to fight. 

If they were going to be late, they'd be late without him.

__________

Ranboo's house was closer to the school than he thought it'd be. 

Part of him had assumed it'd be relatively close to Niki and Puffy's workplace, since he apparently dropped by there pretty often. Not to mention the fact that he worked in the ice cream shop just across the street from them, and from what Fundy had told the chat, Ranboo walked to work. Both shops were the opposite way from the school, and a far walk. 

But no. He lived a good half an hour from the school, on foot. He told Purpled himself, upon sending his address, along with what his house looked like to make sure Purpled didn't accidentally walk right up to one of the neighbors by accident. 

Soon enough, after walking on the sidewalk for a good 28 minutes, the house described to him prior was in sight. The road was busy, he noticed, and the house was right next to it. Convenient, if one drove everywhere, but probably obnoxious to just live next to. The noise must be intolerable some days. Props to Ranboo, he guessed.

Then again, Ranboo likely didn't have much say in the house he lived in. Props to him for dealing with his parents, then. They must be crazy to purposefully raise a kid next to one of the main roads in town.

Reaching the house, though, he saw the driveway was completely empty. He'd been on his own, then? His parents were at work, most likely. Huh. Weird to leave your kid alone when he was so injured.

Still, Ranboo had apparently refused the hospital both times he'd gotten gravely injured since meeting the group, so the two might have been connected, somehow. He dislike for the hospital and his parents' absence.

...This wasn't painting a good picture for his parents, if Purpled was to be honest. 

Shaking off any worries - if Ranboo didn't want to talk about it, then he wouldn't waste time making up theories - he walked up to the front door, knocking.

He heard a shout from the inside, recognizing the voice as Ranboo's, and some noise from behind the door. A few seconds later, with what sounded like stumbling, the door opened, revealing Ranboo leaning heavily on an entry-way table inside. He smiled, awkwardly, and waved to Purpled.

"Hey, uh, hi," he said, pausing for a second before hobbling aside and motioning for Purpled to enter. He did, nodding his own greeting and closing the door behind him. "Um, you can grab a seat, if you want. Or you can just drop the notes and stuff on the coffee table in the living room." He vaguely gestured in what Purpled assumed was the general direction of the living room. "If, uh - do you want water, or anything?"

He shook his head, taking off his shoes and lightly kicking them out of the way of the door. He can be a polite house guest. "I'm good, thanks." He waited for Ranboo to nod and start to make his way to (he assumed) the living room to follow after him. 

He took his backpack off, dropping it next to the table and kneeling down to open it. Ranboo lowered himself onto the couch, and Purpled took notice of the state he was in. He hadn't seen him when he'd gotten injured, so this was his first time seeing the damage. And, man, was it damage. No wonder Puffy had been so stressed the previous night. If a kid stumbled into his workplace right when his shift ended looking even worse than that - this was after Ranboo had gotten taken care of and rested, what did it look like at its worst? - he would be a little concerned as well. 

Speaking of concern. "What's up with your parents?" he asked abruptly, digging through his bag to find the notebook he'd been using specifically for Ranboo the entire day. They might have only shared one class, but they had the same teacher for a lot of their courses, just at different times. 

Ranboo stiffened from where he sat, freezing in his movements, and Purpled reevaluated his choice of words. Oh, yikes, valid reaction. 

"I mean, uh, I noticed the driveway was empty, so I assumed your parents weren't home," he quickly explained, looking up to see Ranboo staring wide eyed at him. He visibly relaxed at Purpled's explanation, nodding. 

"Yeah, they're, well, out, I guess," he said, looking out the window where the cars would have been, were there cars there. 

"When are they getting home, do you think?" Purpled asked, craning his neck a little to also look out the window before returning to his digging. "I mean, it'd kinda suck to leave you alone while they're at work or something."

Ranboo didn't answer, and Purpled frowned at the silence. He looked up again, still shuffling through his bag blindly, and saw Ranboo giving the table a dirty look. Okay, wow, sore topic, then. 

Before he could rush to change the topic, lest things get awkward, Ranboo opened his mouth to reply. "Yeah, they won't be coming home tonight," he spat, laughing bitterly. 

This...was starting to feel like he was intruding on something personal. Don't get him wrong, Purpled liked Ranboo well enough as a friend and such, but they were not this close. 

As if sensing his discomfort, Ranboo snapped back out of whatever memory he seemed to be reliving, rubbing the back of his neck. "I mean, uh, they're out on a business trip right now, y'know? They're halfway across the world, I'm pretty sure," he said. Purpled's frown grew at the uncertain wording, but he just nodded, finally finding the notebook and taking it out. "So, yeah, they won't be home for a while. It's also why I don't bother with hospitals - they'd try calling my parents and, um, there isn't much they can do from a different continent, really."

He laughed, again, though less bitter and more uncomfortable, and both boys let the subject drop. He didn't seem to be lying at all, Purpled could tell, but it still didn't sit right with him. Especially with how angry the thought of his parents had made Ranboo, certified anxiety extraordinaire. 

"I get that," Purpled said, not getting it at all. His parents also couldn't give two shits about him, but he'd come to terms with that after they dropped him off at the local orphanage and called it a day. Ranboo hummed, and the conversationed ended. 

Purpled dropped the notebook on the table. "Don't worry about getting that back to me, or anything. I have my own notes, since I take them kind of weird. That's basically just a transcript of the lessons," he said, pointing to the yellow notebook. "And, uh. Have a good one."

Ranboo grinned at the awkward saying. "You too. I'd offer you a ride home, but, uh." He trailed off, glancing outside at the driveway again with a small laugh. 

"It's cool," he said, giving a thumbs up. He zipped his backpack up, slinging it over his shoulder, and waved. "See ya."

Ranboo waved back as he made his way to the entrance. "Yeah. See you."

He put on his shoes, and left.

________________

" Enderwalk , huh?" 

Purpled glanced up from where he was, leaning against the wall to avoid the busy-bodies of Hypixel. He was waiting for the next game of Bedwars to open up, his go-to whenever he dropped by. 

A small group had gathered around the nearest leader board, muttering and mumbling amongst themselves. The comment had been louder than the others, loud enough to garner attention from anyone bored enough to eavesdrop on a strangers conversation.

Usually, not a problem in Hypixel, since nobody was all that interested in getting to know each other. 

However, Purpled was very bored, and nothing was more fun than knowing what you're not meant to know.

"They just showed up on the leaderboard last week or somethin'," someone grumbled, voice low again. Too bad for them. Purpled's hearing was impeccable. At least, for listening in on other people's conversations, it was. "Out of nowhere. "

One of the others in the group smacked him over the head. "Not outta nowhere, moron. They've been in the ring for over a year, now." Purpled raised an eyebrow, tilting his head back against the wall. " That's what's interesting about them. Not that they magically showed up or anythin', no-"

"-it's 'cause they've been so careful 'bout stayin' on the downlow!" Someone interrupted, cackling. "They're good as hell, head to the lesser known rings an' you'll see 'em!"

"Oh?" Purpled finally dropped his air of indifference, stalking up to the group and crossing his arms. They shuffled aside, and he almost laughed at how meek they got when they realized they'd been loud enough for him to hear. He glanced over at the leader board, and- yeah, right at the bottom. Not nearly high enough to warrant this kind of attention. "Seems like they just got their skills good enough to climb to the top, to me."

One of the guys grumbled something under his breath and begrudgingly stepped closer, jabbing a finger at the name posted in the Number 50 spot. Enderwalk . Fun name. "I've seen 'em fight. Fought 'em myself. They're good enough to get way higher," they claimed, pointing to their mouth to show off a missing tooth. There was a story behind it, but Purpled didn't particularly care about it, not really getting why this guy was showing it off like he would. "It's weird this is their first time in the top 50 at all."

"How often do they fight?" Purpled asked, growing more and more disinterested with this. At first, it sounded like some cool and mysterious fighter had joined the arena, but from what he was hearing, it was just some guy like any other. Maybe a little less interested in Hypixel fame, is all. 

"On and off. Sometimes it's every day o' the week, sometimes it's once in a month." The rest of the group had gone quiet, some even dissipating into the larger crowd waiting for the next game. It looked like it was only this guy that was this invested in Enderwalk . Kind of weird, maybe he was some fanatic of theirs. "I've been watchin' 'em for a while."

"A while?" He couldn't hide the disgust in his voice. This dude was some sort of stalker, then. Ew. 

The guy, if he noticed Purpled's disgust, didn't seem to care, grin splitting into his cheeks. "Ever since they beat me, one on one. I was in the top 20s, back then." Purpled opened his mouth to tell him he really didn't want to know , but the man had begun to ramble. "Top 20s, and Enderwalk plowed right through me like I was some bug. Match was over in under a minute, I tell ya. Asked around about 'em, turned out they'd only been fighting about 4 months."

"And now it's been how long, with you fangirling over their every move?" He shot, his irritation growing with every word this guy said.

"'s been over a year, like I said. I've been in the arena e'ery day to try 'nd see them fight," he admitted like it was an accomplishment. Purpled immediately felt bad for Enderwalk , whoever they may be, and wondered if they even knew they had this guy keeping tabs on them like a twitter stan. "No schedule or pattern to 'em, so I have to come constantly so I don't miss 'em."

"You said something about smaller rings, earlier? How often do they stick to Hypixel?" Knowing what this guy knew meant Purpled could warn this Enderwalk guy if he ever met them. Warn them properly, that is. You've got a stalker isn't really great information, and not as uncommon as he'd like in the fighting scene. "Do you scout out other rings, as well?"

The guy leaned forward, like he was telling a secret, and Purpled leaned back. He didn't want to be any closer to this dude than he had to. "I tried to, at first, but Hypixel's their main huntin' ground." The wording made it sound like he was talking about a hunter of some kind, and it clicked. This guy was obsessed with Enderwalk like a hunter was obsessed with a deer they could never catch. Talked about them the same, as well. "They fight different every time, always tryin' to be as efficient as possible. No fight of theirs has lasted loner than a few minutes - unless the other guy's cheatin'."

"Do people cheat often?" Idiotic question, obviously they'd cheat more in less-guarded rings. Hypixel was one of the few that had such a strict rules system, really. 

"Only against them. People know they can't win against 'em, so they bring in knives and they gang up on 'em. But they always spring right back." The man's eyes were practically shining, and Purpled made a face at him. "They fight like they're dancin', but it's a different dance every time. They haven't showed up for a few days, though. I heard-" The man paused, glancing around before leaning in again, too close from Purpled to safely back away, "two days ago, they went to a smaller ring, and got seen stumblin' out like they were dyin' ."

Purpled shoved him away, grunting and not bothering to hide his annoyance. "What's your source for that?" 

"Got a buddy that stalks around the ring Enderwalk was fightin' in that night. He lets me know whenever they fight there," the man easily said, like that wasn't the creepiest goddamn thing. 

Purpled had enough of the conversation, and turned to the leader board. Grabbing a marker someone nearby was waving around right from their hands, he uncapped it and scribbled over Enderwalk's name. He tossed it back and glared to the man in front of him. "Don't go stickin' your nose in a stranger's life like some weird hound," he warned, turning on his heel and walking away. 

His mind was alight with things to think about, but he shrugged them away. He had a game to win, after all.

Chapter Text

'cool people only (2 days since last injury)'

Purpled(avoid qs): just met the creepiest dude in my life

Purpled(avoid qs): which is saying something honestly

Sam(not police): What happened?

Dream(stab wound): ^^^ are you okay???

Purpled(avoid qs): oh yeah i'm fine

Purpled(avoid qs): dude wasn't being creepy towards me specifically

Purpled(avoid qs): just creepy all around

Techno(pink hair): what did he do?

Ranboo: yeah, what was creepy about him??

Purpled(avoid qs): ok so first of all, sam and ranboo

Ranboo: yes?

Sam(not police): What's up?

Purpled(avoid qs): promise you won't give me any pity shit or turn me in to the cops

Sam(not police): purpled if I was going to turn you in I would have done it ages ago

Sam(not police): You're good

Ranboo: Yeah my 'no hospitals' thing kind of extends to most emergency services tbh

Ranboo: and i wouldn't pity you or anything you could beat me to a pulp

Purpled(avoid qs): speaking of beating to a pulp

Techno(pink hair): oh fighting rings?

Purpled(avoid qs): yeah lmao fighting rings

Techno(pink hair): this is why i stuck to hypixel ffs

Techno(pink hair): more creeps, but less interaction

Purpled(avoid qs): this was actually on hypixel first of all

Techno(pink hair): Ah.

Purpled(avoid qs): and second of all it was one of those weirdos that are obsessed with a specific fighter

Purpled(avoid qs): weirdest part was tho that it wasn't a well known fighter or anything

Purpled(avoid qs): like techno or anything

Techno(pink hair): lol am i still on the leader boards

Purpled(avoid qs): yup

Techno(pink hair): i haven't fought in two years bruuuuh

Dream(stab wound): Who was the fighter?

Purpled(avoid qs): enderwalk, it was their first time making the leader board

Purpled(avoid qs): but this dude's been watching them way longer

Purpled(avoid qs): according to him, he fought them like 4 months or smth after they started out at all

Purpled(avoid qs): and has been stalking them for like a year since

Purpled(avoid qs): it sounds like they joined a little while after you left, Techno

Techno(pink hair): hhhuh

Techno(pink hair): do you know who the dude is?

Purpled(avoid qs): no clue

Purpled(avoid qs): he said he was in the top 20s when he lost to Enderwalk

Purpled(avoid qs): but thats as helpful as saying 'well he was definitely alive back then'

Dream(stab wound): yikes that is Creepy

Dream(stab wound): I think I've met Enderwalk tho???

Ranboo: did you also fight in 'hypixel' ??

Dream(stab wound): nah lol

Dream(stab wound): technically yes, but I fought in a lot of rings

Dream(stab wound): never really stuck to any one for too long before i stopped fighting

Dream(stab wound): i stopped like a year ago or smth

Purpled(avoid qs): you said you've met Enderwalk though?

Purpled(avoid qs): i've got no clue who they are, just that they just barely made top 50 this week then dipped

Dream(met before?): yup right before i left im p sure

Ranboo: what were they like??

Dream(met before?): if i'm honest, i'm not really sure lolol

Dream(met before?): they were sort of like me at the time? no personal info available, could barely make out any physical traits

Dream(met before?): they had a mask like me tho it was fun

Dream(met before?): they talked w/ text to speech n everything

Purpled(avoid qs): mask like yours??

Dream(met before?): yeah, it was a frowny face instead

Dream(met before?): they had a crown like techno too adsfjbgdfj

Dream(met before?): real cool look if i'm being honest though, it was like they fought in stilts or smth

Dream(met before?): it was hard to tell if they were an enderman hybrid or just liked the aesthetic

Ranboo: yikes

Ranboo: thats kinda cringe ngl

Dream(met before?): what part lol?

Ranboo: 'ender aesthetic' 

Ranboo: like i get it, its whatever, just like

Ranboo: weird for my existence to be considered an 'aesthetic' 

Dream(met before?): ohhh gotcha gotcha

Dream(met before?): i won't say stuff like that again promise promise

Ranboo: its cool! i appreciate it

Purpled(avoid qs): i can see how that's be uncomfy lol

Purpled(avoid qs): god here's hoping that isn't why Creepy Dude is so obsessed with them yuck

Ranboo: hhh yeah

-

Well, that was concerning. 

Ranboo had a stalker. Huh. 

Okay, this was fine, he could deal with this. Technically, it wasn't Ranboo's stalker, it was Enderwalk's stalker. Still, bad.

At least he knew, now. It was better to know than not to know. But this had been going on for over a year . Just a little after he started out. That was…

That was terrifying . 

How far did this man's' interest go? How much did he want to know? Was he content with just watching Ranboo fight, or was it deeper than that? How much did he already know?

Part of him wanted to message Purpled. Ask him about everything the man told him, what the man did and didn't know, what Purpled did and didn't know. But that would be giving himself away, and again, he didn't know how much anyone knew.

He thought he had this under control. He was so careful, so careful , he had been trying so hard not to garner attention. But attention he got, anyways. For a while. For a while that he didn't even know about . 

He hadn't noticed a thing. He hadn't noticed someone watching him from the stands, eyeing his every move as he fought, because why would he? He had to focus on winning, on not getting too badly hurt, on staying as anonymous as possible. The thought of a stalker hadn't even crossed his mind, especially not one from Hypixel. 

That was the whole reason he fought there. To avoid that kind of attention. What kind of twisted prank was the universe trying to pull on him, now? 

What was he meant to do?

Obviously, he could stop fighting. Quit the rings, stop showing up. Leave his fighting get-up for some random to find, maybe they'd even take his place. He wouldn't have to worry about anyone coming after him in his 'retirement', since nobody knew who he was, anyway. At least, nobody as far as he knew.

That would be the ideal solution, but it wasn't one he could take. Unless he wanted to live on cold water and other people's leftovers until he moved out. Maybe if he didn't care about college, didn't want to be able to afford a higher education. 

He needed the rings, as much as he loathed to admit. It was the one solid truth in his life, despite being one he hated so much. He needed to fight in the rings, and he couldn't just quit now. 

He would stick to the smaller rings, to avoid the guy, but…

He glanced at his broken arm, and shuddered at the memory of how he got it. He had quite enough trauma, thank you very much. Smaller rings were a definite no-go.

So what? Did he just continue on like nothing happened? Should he try finding another ring with the same stricter rules as Hypixel, and hope nobody took an interest in him again? 

He bit his lip, staring at his phone. He didn't have anyone to go to for advice, did he?

He knew, now, that at least 2-3 other people in the group chat alone had been or were currently involved in fighting rings. Specifically, they'd all, at one point, been involved in Hypixel. Theoretically, he could go to one of them for advice. Come clean about Enderwalk , explain his situation as much as he strictly needed to, and hope they cared enough about him to help.

But, from what he'd seen, two of them were retired. Ranboo wouldn't want to bother them or drag up old memories just because he was having a bit of trouble. Purpled was the one to tell the chat about the creep in the first place, and he already knew about Ranboo's parents, so he was an option. But. He seemed way too uncomfortable when their conversation had gotten the smallest bit personal. Plus, the whole point of his Enderwalk identity, and the lengths he went to in order to protect it, was to avoid spilling personal information to anyone.

And, no offence to Purpled, or anyone in the chat, but Ranboo couldn't really trust any of them quite that much. It had taken months for him to trust Niki enough to go to her for help without wearing the mask, he was nowhere near close enough to anyone else to come clean again. How did he know Purpled wasn't just trying to bait him into revealing himself so he could do something with his information? Sell it, since apparently there were people interested enough in it to do that, or just be generally violent. Get rid of some competition now that Enderwalk was starting to climb the leader boards. 

He couldn't risk it. Not at all. 

Then there was Niki.

He could ask her for help, but he'd already asked so much from her. She would know the situation, anyways, the second she read the group chat. If she didn't want to help him, he wasn't going to force her to. Besides, he doubted there was much she could really do to help, other than suggest he stop fighting. And, again, he loved her dearly, but she couldn't put herself in his shoes. She didn't really understand quite how direly he needed the money the fighting brought him. 

She'd been kind enough to score him his job at the ice cream shop, too. She'd done more than enough for him. 

His phone chimed, pulling him out of his worries. Not entirely, but enough to realize his breathing had grown erratic, as well as his pulse. Oh, he was panicking. 

His panic was valid, he reasoned, if only to allow himself to calm down. He'd gone down the whole 'why am I panicking when I have no reason to' road, and spoiler alert, that just led to more panicking. 

So, cool, he had emotions, anyways.

He clicked on the notification, barely scanning over what it had said before it pulled him into a private chat with Niki. 

Ah, so she'd read the chat, then. He had a feeling he knew what she was going to say.

-

'Niki(flower shop), Ranboo'

Niki(flower shop): I read the group chat

Niki(flower shop): Ranboo, you need to tell them sometime soon

Ranboo: i can deal w/ it

Ranboo: i don't have to worry them, really

Niki(flower shop): I understand why you don't want to tell them, and I get why you can't trust them that much yet

Niki(flower shop): but this is too far. 

Niki(flower shop): We both know I can't help you with this. They can.

Ranboo: I told you, i can deal with it on my own

Niki(flower shop): Ranboo, please

Niki(flower shop): They'll understand, they've gone through what you're going through right now

Niki(flower shop): They can help you if you talk to them

Ranboo: Niki

Niki(flower shop): If you don't tell them soon, I will

Ranboo: Niki, I said I'm fine. 

Niki(flower shop): And I know you aren't. This is too much for you to handle on your own.

Niki(flower shop): You need to accept their help, Ranboo.

Ranboo: Stop it.

Ranboo: I'm not going to tell them, because I Don't Have To. I know what I'm doing.

Ranboo: If you tell them then

Ranboo: i'll just take care of my injuries by myself from now on.

Niki(flower shop): Ranboo please!

Niki(flower shop): this isn't the time to be stubborn!! 

Ranboo: I don't care if I'm being stubborn. Don't tell them, I've told you over and over again by now.

Ranboo: I can deal with this by myself.

Ranboo: Okay?

Niki(flower shop): Ranboo…

Ranboo: I'm not going to say it again. Either you understand, or you don't.

Niki(flower shop): fine. i won't tell them.

Niki(flower shop): the second you're in trouble, though, i can't promise anything.

Niki(flower shop): i've done everything i can for you. you need to accept other help eventually.

Ranboo: I get it.

-

He closed the chat, a hollow feeling growing in his chest. 

He wasn't angry. He couldn't really tell what he felt. 

Something dropped onto his phone screen, and he realized his cheeks were burning. He brought a trembling hand up to his face and- oh.

He was crying. 

His phone pinged again, but he didn't look at it, pushing his phone away from him and bringing his knees up to his chest. Tucking his slinged arm in between his legs and his chest, he buried his head in his knees, not paying any mind to the constant stinging trailing from his eyes. 

As the sun set through the window behind him, casting long shadows in the room, he sat with shaking shoulders as he hid from the world. Silent sobs racked his body, and for the first time in a whole, he let himself cry, not caring one bit for how much it hurt.

__________

Niki paced the shop. 

It was nearing closing time, the sun having already set an hour or so ago. She was on a solo shift, making her the only one in the store. The only one there to close the shop.

She gnawed at her thumb as her nerves grew worse and worse by the second. 

After her argument with Ranboo, he'd gone completely offline. Usually she wouldn't be so worried. He did this often; it was honestly normal for him to disappear for days on end, only to show up out of nowhere entirely unscatched. He would smile and laugh as she scolded him for making her worry, but deep down she knew she hadn't doubted his ability to take care of himself for a second.

This wasn't the usual.

Usually, he hadn't just showed up at her shop beaten within an inch of his life (an exageration, but one she felt justified in making.) Usually, she hadn't just learned about his stalker second-hand. Usually , she didn't just have the first argument in what felt like ages with him over his own health.

This was not the usual , and that had been eating her raw. 

She was worried sick. Nausea had pitted in her stomach the second her conversation with him took a turn for the worse, and had been getting worse since. Her anxiety had skyrocketed when he abruptly stopped answering, not even reading her messages. 

Part of her was glad Puffy wasn't here, knowing that she'd either poke fun at Niki for being such a worry-wart, or share her worries and make things worse by having two people panicking. Then again, part of her wished desperately for someone to comfort her and assure her Ranboo would be alright, and that she had no reason to be as concerned as she was.

As it was, though, she paced alone behind the counter, praying she wouldn't have any more customers walking in so she didn't have to shove aside her worries to play the perfect employee for a little while longer. 

She debated messaging the group chat, again, but she knew he would only get more upset at that. He would see it and think she was calling him weak and incapable, and he would take even longer to get back to her messages. Not out of spite, as far as she knew, but because he would feel hurt, betrayed, and would have the stupid desire to prove himself even though he was just a kid and shouldn't have to feel like he needed to-

Ahem. That was a different issue.

(Niki wasn't particularly fond of his parents, but she doubted anyone really was.)

She didn't want to needlessly worry the others any more than necessary, either. She knew they would be concerned for him, as well, but she didn't want to make them think he wasn't capable of taking care of himself at all, when that had been what he was doing for the past few years all alone. She knew, from her own experiences, that Ranboo was more than capable for his age, but they didn't know him well.

And there was that. The cause behind all of this.

The others had known him for less than a month. Of course he wasn't going to trust him as much as he trusted her. She knew how long it took him to trust people, how long it took for him to accept people as part of his life, and she knew it would be a lot longer until any of the others were on that level, to him. 

She wasn't going to lie and say she understood Ranboo perfectly. She didn't, and she never would. He was just like that , he refused to let people in out of some sense of unworthiness, and he refused to tell anyone what he was really thinking at any point. 

She was pretty sure even he didn't know himself as well as he thought he did. 

But that was what scared her. Because what if she really was underestimating him? What if she was just hurting him all this time, what if she never knew him as well as she thought she did? What if they were never as close as she'd hoped they were?

Because it was possible that was true.

The clock hanging next to the door chimed, and her head swiveled to face it. Closing time. It was time to close up shop.

Hanging her head, and hanging away her fears, she got to work. 

She hated to do it, but she'd have to wait for him. And if he never came around, there was nothing she could do about it.

____________

Purpled wasn't stupid. Far from it, in his ever humble opinion.

He could put two and two together. 

Ranboo was Enderwalk. It really wasn't difficult to figure out, from his perspective. Obviously, he had information nobody else had, and he had both perspectives of the situation. Maybe, if he was in someone else's position, and only knew Ranboo-Ranboo, or only knew Enderwalk-Ranboo, he probably wouldn't have put the dots together.

But, come on, he's Purpled, of course he would. 

Ranboo was Enderwalk, and Enderwalk had a stalker.

Now, okay, he could talk to Ranboo directly about it. Tell him what Purpled knew, what he wanted to know. Tell him he was willing to keep it a secret, and he was open to help him with the whole stalker-issue.

But he'd seen Ranboo. The kid got scared of his own shadow, from the looks of it. He'd probably get scared out of his skin if Purpled approached him out of nowhere saying 'hey by the way I know your secret identity, but it's cool, because you can trust me!' There was no way Ranboo wouldn't immediately get suspicious of him and shut him out.

Honestly, if Purpled were in his shoes, he'd probably be the same. This was a sucky situation, one he'd hate to be in, and Ranboo was dealing with it relatively well, all things considered.

The creep still didn't know who Ranboo really was, and, considering how long he'd been watching Enderwalk ? That was impressive. He could respect that.

Maybe it was because he, too, was incredibly paranoid. But, he digressed. 

He wasn't sure how to go about the whole thing. If he went to someone that seemed to know Ranboo more, looking to help him, it was possible for him to accidentally give Ranboo away behind his back. And that would not be good. Quite far from such, actually.

He was shocked Dream hadn't figured it out, yet. The guy had met Ranboo, met Enderwalk, and still couldn't put the two together. Granted, it sounded like he'd met Enderwalk in passing, and from what he'd heard, Ranboo was killer at hiding his identity. But really, even Purpled had figured it out, without ever actually meeting the whole Enderwalk persona Ranboo had created. 

If he didn't know, though, Purpled wasn't about to push the pieces into place, whatever that meant. He wasn't an asshole, contrary to popular belief. If Dream didn't know, then that was his problem. It wasn't Purpled's place to meddle.

Yeah, it really wasn't, huh? Trying to get someone else's help was entirely unnecessary and, honestly? Kind of stupid.

He'd just continue his plan from before. Help from the sidelines, and what-not. He do his best to keep the weirdo from sticking his nose in Enderwalk 's business whenever he could, and he would stop talking about it in the group chat. He could sense Ranboo's nervousness through the phone, when he'd been talking about his encounter with Strange Man McGee. 

Maybe he'd stop talking about the rings, as well. At least when Ranboo was online. Maybe his lies had worked against the others so far, but there were other fairly smart people in the chat that would figure him out eventually. They'd sniff out his lies, so all Purpled had to do was make sure Ranboo wasn't forced to lie at all. Avoidance and abstinence, and all that.

Wrong subject. Whatever.

Purpled tossed his phone behind him onto his bed, opening up his notebook to get started on the homework. He'd probably make sure he was the one to keep delivering the homework, too. At least, as long as he had to.

___________

-

'cool people only (8 days since last injury)'

Ranboo: imagine accidentally making your neighbor think your house was haunted when it was actually just you walking around the front of the house at 1 AM because you couldn't sleep and the house felt too cramped

Ranboo: couldn't be me lmao

Techno(pink hair): that felt oddly specific but okay

Purpled(avoid qs): mood lol

Fundy(nice coworker): first time in a week ranboo texts the gc and its this smh

Dream(met before?): i now have a plan for the weekend

Ranboo: pro-tip: it works better when you're 7ft tall and your eyes glow

Dream(met before?): YOUR EYES GLOW???

Techno(pink hair): ender hybrids are just like that 

Techno(pink hair): do you have eyelids ranboo? bc edward gave me a heart attack first time i realized he didn't

Ranboo: adfhbv i don't

Ranboo: my eyes are like ~marbles~ its tight

Purpled(avoid qs): nice

Purpled(avoid qs): i imagine that added to the visceral fear you instilled in your neighbors when they saw you?

Ranboo: it did, good observation

Dream(met before?): every time i learn something new about you i get more and more concerned

Niki(argument recently): wait until you see him unhinge his jaw

Dream(met before?): that's it, i'm done, goodnight everyone

Techno(pink hair): good morning*

Techno(pink hair): nerd lol

Dream(met before?): i'm going to gut you technoblade

Techno(pink hair): good luck tiny man

Ranboo: to be fair w niki's addition

Ranboo: it does kinda hurt to unhinge it lol

Ranboo: wasn't really meant to be a normal thing ig

Purpled(avoid qs): still p metal

Techno(pink hair): goin to sue evolution for this clear injustice in hybrid features

Techno(pink hair): i just got anime hair bruuh

Phil(nice med): you have more than anime hair dude

Techno(pink hair): SAYS THE IMMORTAL FFS 

Ranboo: to be fair

Ranboo: you could also be immortal

Techno(pink hair): elaborate.

Ranboo: you haven't died yet

Techno(pink hair): excellent point, thank you ranboo

Techno(pink hair): you are now my favorite

Purpled(avoid qs): Achievement Unlocked: Praise from Technoblade

Ranboo: thank you i will treasure this moment

Niki(argument recently): i'm glad you're alright, though, ranboo

Niki(argument recently): i was worried when you dropped off the face of the Earth for a week

Ranboo: thank you niki

Ranboo: i'm sorry for worrying you <.<

Niki(flower shop): you're good ^ ^

Ranboo: yay !

Chapter Text

The crown cracks under the pressure.

Ranboo watches, eyes wide, as a foot stamps down to break the thing to pieces. Silver painted gold, stolen from a forgotten statue that nobody remembered existed. Plastic jewels burst out in all directions as the crown is broken under an armored heel.

He doesn't remember how he got here. He doesn't think he wants to.

He's on the ground, his mask barely staying on his face. The thread keeping it strapped on is snapped, it's staying on only because of the hands holding his head up. 

Two more pairs of arms are wrapped around his elbows, yanking him up, pulling him apart, as he's forced to watch. 

It was a wager, he thinks. A bet placed upon him, not giving him a second to say no. He'd been challenged to a fight, one on one, and the wager was settled without him saying a word. 

He'd lost. He'd lost?

He was in Hypixel, he was sure of that. The lights were always too bright, the crowd was always too loud. His discomfort was unique here - it could only ever be Hypixel.

This followed the rules, then. It must, since nobody was stepping in to help him. Or maybe he just managed to tick off everyone that mattered. Maybe everyone here wanted to watch him crumble like the fake crown in front of him. 

He fought, and he lost, one on one. Where everyone else came from, he didn't know. A vague part of him recalls the slithering feeling of eyes on him from the corners of the ring, recalls the clear ill-intent packed in every gaze. But he'd been too focused on the match at hand to do anything about it.

He regrets it now, he thinks. He should have thought about it. Stopped the match, forfeited, rendered the bet worthless.

"If you lose, you take off that hideous disguise. If I lose, I help you fix it up." 

He hadn't even realized his mask was cracked, clean down the middle, until the stranger brought it up. He frowned, though no one else could see it, and resisted the urge to run his fingers over the blemish. 

He didn't think it was hideous. He was actually proud of it. He relished in the looks of awe he got whenever he stood tall above his competition, found pride in the whispered compliments people thought he couldn't hear. Of course he had heard the opposite, but the nicer comments mattered so much more to him. 

He opened his mouth to object to the deal, to tell this odd person that he didn't really want any help fixing it, that he wouldn't find any merit in accepting the wager, but found himself stopping. He didn't talk. He couldn't talk. If he did, that was a way for someone to recognize him. And the person standing in front of him, arm outstretched, hand asking for a friendly handshake, was not someone he wanted to give that advantage to.

As he wasted time mulling over how to communicate his rejection to the deal, though, the stranger saw the opportunity fit to continue talking.

"Hell, if you forfeit, I'll let the deal drop entirely. All you have to do is say so." And there was the twist. This person knew why he wasn't responding vocally. Knew that, if given the chance, he wouldn't use his voice to give up. Even if he so, so wanted to.

He could leave, he realized. Walk away, and leave it at that. He could brush this stranger off, and let that count as forfeit, deducting points from his personal score that he honestly and truly couldn't care less about. If anything, a lower place on the leaderboard was something he wanted. 

Before he could act on his wishes, though, the stranger grinned, all teeth. "Lovely," they said with a forked tongue, stepping up onto the ring as the crowd began to cheer.

To the masses, Ranboo had accepted the deal.

He was shoved into the ring, and the bell sounded, beginning the fight. 

He was yanked back up again - he didn't even notice he was leaning forward again, if he was at all - and he felt blood fill his mouth as he bit down on his tongue on impact. He'd always been less than thankful of his abnormally sharp teeth ( if Niki were here she'd tell him that no, they weren't abnormal, they were entirely expected of him for being an ender hybrid in the first place, and he wouldn't have the heart to tell her that that actually made him feel worse ), but he would like nothing more than to take a file to them and cut them down, at the moment.

He'd lost. How did he lose? He must have lost fairly, this was still one of the stricter rings out there, but he wouldn't have taken a fight he knew he couldn't win, right?

He would have if it was forced upon him. Oh. Woe to the spineless, he supposes, and justice to those who refuse it.

Or, in easier to understand words, he should learn to say fucking no. 

"I'm going to be transparent with you, here," the stranger says, though he isn't quite a stranger anymore. Once they fought, once they scratched and clawed and punched, they became little more than strangers, little less than foes. "I'm not doing this for myself. I could care less about who you are, edgy little shit." 

In a different life, he might've been a little hurt at the insult. Offended, even. But, as it was, he didn't find the insult to be one of the more dire things happening to him at the moment. 

The rest of the sentence, for example. The grip on the sides of his head growing looser and looser, threatening to let go entirely and let the long since broken mask fall to the floor. The millions of possibilities for how his life could get thousands of times worse should he not manage to find his way out of this predicament soon. 

He was curious, though, he had to admit. If he wasn't potentially ruining Ranboo's life for himself, who was he even doing it for? Surely he was doing this for a price, right?

He wanted to ask, question, demand, but his mouth stayed firmly shut. He'd hold out as long as he had to, curiosity be damned.

"I bet you're wondering why I'm doing this then, aren't you?" The stranger teased, picking up a larger piece that had broken off of what was once a crown, tossing it between his hands for a few seconds as if to admire it, before tossing it aside and letting it roll out of the ring. "Ask away."

If Ranboo could glare at him, he would. The stranger laughed, kicking aside the rest of the crown. 

With a thunk, the pieces managed to nail someone in the audience. They'd been passing through, it sounded like, from the string of insults unleashed from afar that the stranger ignored. 

"Come on, go ahead, Enderwalk ," he said, grinning smugly. He had Ranboo cornered, he knew he had Ranboo cornered, and he was going right ahead with rubbing it in his face. A growl rumbled from the back of his throat - a scary sort of noise that he hadn't felt the need to make in months. "Ooh, scary. Are you actually an enderman, then? Not very subtle naming, I have to tell you, pearl farm ."

An uninspired insult Ranboo had heard over and over from kids in the schoolyard who only ever wanted to provoke him. A taunt that shouldn't have dug as deep as it did right then and there. Maybe it was the nostalgia behind it. Maybe it was the dehumanization of it all. 

Before the man in front of him could antagonize him any further, however, some flew in from the audience and smacked him right in the head. Ranboos eyes travelled down to see what it was - his crown. The person it had hit earlier had thrown it back.

He didn't stop the harsh, bitter laugh that bubbled up from his chest, not caring about his voice anymore. The stranger grit his teeth, head swinging wildly from the direction the crown had flown from back to Ranboo. He settled to spit at Ranboo (and honestly, gross) as he stamped his way over to the edge of the ring. 

A flash of purple was all Ranboo could make out, not really able to move his head around all that much, what with the vice like grip on either side of his face. The stranger, though, he could see, so he deemed to let his gaze trail after him.

He'd knelt down before the audience, eyes narrowed as he tried to make out who had thrown the crown back, when something else came up to hit him smack dab in the middle of his face.

A fist.

Someone had punched him . Another laugh threatened to spill as Ranboo watched his prior opponent tumble back, stumbling to catch himself and bumbling to stand back up.

A hand slammed down on the edge of the ring ( familiar ) and before either Ranboo or the stranger knew it, someone was climbing into the light of the match, swinging themselves onto the platform. Finally, finally , Ranboo could make out more than a vague summary of their features, and-

Oh. Oh fuck .

He wanted to scream, wanted to so badly , but refrained by the thin thread that made up his will as mother fucking Purpled stepped into the ring, cracking his knuckles. 

"Sup," the boy in question said casually, his head dipping in Ranboo's direction. Oh, he knew. He had to know, with the way he was acting.

Ranboo was totally and utterly screwed. 

___________

Getting nailed in the back of the head with a broken crown wasn't high on Purpled's to-do list, but it happened nonetheless.

He'd been minding his own business. Just passing through the crowd, elbowing his way through like any good citizen that partook in illegal fighting, and waiting for whoever was hogging the one-on-one ring to finally leave. Then, out of absolutely nowhere, he's stumbling forward, the back of his head is most definitely bruising, and when he takes a step back for balance, something crunches under his foot.

When he reached to pick it up, he noticed that it looked awfully familiar. If anything, it kind of looked like the old crown (made of actual real gold, the rich fucker) that sat in a cabinet at Techno and Phil's house, from Techno's own fighting days. 

Except, much lower quality. Shimmering paint was dull and chipping off, not to mention the spots of old dried glue where he assumed gems had been pasted on. He imagined that it might have looked nice and authentic when it was less old and broken, and would probably still look fairly nice under the constantly-changing lights that illuminated every fight that happened in Hypixel, but as of right now, it was far beyond repair.

He had a mask like Dream's and a crown like Techno's .

Purpled had an inkling he knew whose crown this was. 

He shoved his way back up towards the front of the crowd, barely able to hear the ongoing conversation happening between the competitors even from the close vantage point. He took out his phone, shooting a quick message to Dream before pocketing it and straining his ears.

If anyone would know how to handle this incredibly specific scenario , it was probably Dream. It was Ranboo(probably), Hypixel, and injuries. 

Also, Dream was just the highest on his contacts list, and the easiest to contact quickly. 

He caught wind of the name Enderwalk , spewed from the mouth of what he assumed was a verified asshole, and reared up his arm to throw. A head bobbed into view, and he grinned, sharp and muted.

Ready, aim, and fire.

A yelp sounded as the crown hit its target, and he bit back a laugh. Fortunately, it sounded like the dragon in distress(ha) laughed for him, the static laugh washing any lingering doubts on who Enderwalk was. 

He might have only known Ranboo for around a month or so, but the dude's laugh was weird as hell. And, by extension, recognizable as hell. 

He barely processed his own actions as he climbed up into the ring, squinting for a minute at the obnoxiously bright lights that harassed him almost instantly upon arrival. He glanced over to where Ranboo was - an angry feeling curled in his gut at how animalistically his friend was being treated, forced to his knees and held back like a hazard - and cracked his knuckles.

"Sup," he said, inwardly cringing at how lame that entrance was. He could do so much cooler, he assured himself, looking over to the definitely verified asshole. "Uh, some of us have been waiting kind of a while to duke it out, and you've kind of been hogging this area, y'know," he started, taking a step in the dude's direction with every slow breath he took, "so if you could get out, that'd be cool."

"This doesn't concern you, kid," the guy snarled, lunging at him before Purpled could even respond. Okay, rude, geez. He dodged the punch, dipping to the side and minding himself not to trip over the leftover crown fragments littering the area. That'd suck to clean up, he felt back for the janitors. Did this place even have janitors? 

"It sure does now, buddy," he said, sticking out his tongue. Immature, yes. Funny, also yes. 

The guy was fuming, but he held out a hand, taking a second to gesture to the crowd. "This isn't an official fight. I don't feel like breaking the rules and getting a 24 hour ban, and I doubt you do, either, yeah?" He began to make his way over to where Ranboo sat, now on his own. Looked like the guy's friends had abandoned him once someone else got involved, cowards. "Let us go, and I won't report you for whatever the hell's going on here."

He glanced over his shoulder, trying to evaluate how badly Ranboo was hurt this time. There weren't any outstanding injuries, which he was sure the group chat would be thankful for, but Ranboo himself was borderline unresponsive. He wasn't paying attention to what was going on around him at all, anymore, seeming to be entirely focused on keeping his mask plastered to his face.

He looked back to the guy to see him backing away with a scowl. He didn't register whatever bullshit came out of the dude's mouth next, grabbing Ranboo by the arm and heaving him up. 

He stood up, with the help, fairly easily. He was still relatively aware, then, hopefully.

"Hey, uh, Enderwalk , d'you have anywhere we can duck out for a bit?" He asked, lowering his voice to make sure only Ranboo could hear him. He didn't get a response, though, and held back a frustrated sigh. That wouldn't be helping, but god did it fit his mood right now. "I texted a friend, you know him. We'll meet up with him in a few, outside."

This time, he got a numb nod, and counted that as enough of a reply to drag Ranboo off of the stage. 

He fought his way through the crowd once again, this time with Ranboo in tow. If Dream didn't know about Ranboo being Enderwalk before, he was about to find out. 

Oh, well. It wouldn't be the worst thing to happen tonight.

_____________

When Dream had gotten the urgent text, he'd been reading. It was a lovely book, about a young girl running from an arranged marriage to the countryside. He was nearly halfway through, too, and beyond invested.

His phone pinged, though, the loud noise disrupting any calming atmosphere he'd built for himself, and he set the book down with an annoyed huff. He'd made a point not to ignore his messages after meeting his current group of friends, since more often than not, when they texted him, they were gravely injured in some way or another.

Most recently, Ranboo had been making up for most of those injuries, so he was relatively relieved when the notification read from Purpled.

His relief did not last long.

-

'purpled, dream'

purpled: need to meet @ emergency spot by hpxl

purpled: urgent

purpled: ok i can talk more now

purpled: its ranboo

purpled: not injured but we do need help

dream: got it, onw

-

He sighed, dragging a hand over his face as he gathered his keys. Why was it always the highschoolers, too? For once, could it not be Puffy, or Sam, in need of help?

Not that he wanted them to need help or anything. He wished the best for all of them. But, come on, the pattern was getting a little ridiculous. 

Tommy blowing up the chemistry lab, Tubbo managing to get multiple wasps nests on his trail, Purpled in general. Ranboo in general . 

They were going to give his a heart attack. Suddenly, he felt that much more for Philza. 

He had a feeling he might need to give the man a call, tonight.

Chapter Text

His mask was in his hands. In two pieces, split between black and white. It would fix up pretty nicely, on the bright side. 

However, his mask was in his hands, and not on his face. He didn't dare look up, his eyes firmly trained on the broken ceramic in his hands instead of the person kneeling across from him in the alley. They held something beside him, blocking his view of anything beyond the alley's entrance; or, blocking anything beyond the alley's entrance from him. 

Purpled was talking, explaining something, probably, but he wasn't listening. He knew he should, if only to appear polite, but he didn't exactly want to. Not yet, anyways. If he were to start listening, start paying attention, it would confirm that this was all real, and he would be forced to confront reality.

And he...wasn't ready to do that. Not yet. 

Purpled had to know he wasn't paying attention to a word he was saying, by now, but the boy kept talking. He seemed more than okay with having an entirely one-sided conversation with someone who was, at the time, about as involved as a brick wall. 

His crown was long gone, which sucked. It wasn't particularly valuable, money-wise, he'd gotten the base at a Clairs and worked from there, but it was sentimental. Probably. He couldn't exactly remember why he got it, or if it had any sentimental value before , but it did now. He'd had that thing for ages, and was honestly a little proud of it not falling apart for a strong two years now. 

Except, ah, now it had. Fallen apart, that is. 

It took someone crushing it, then tossing it around a couple of times, but it was far too broken up to be fixed. Unlike his mask, which he could probably just glue together and have it as good as it was a solid three months ago. 

"-anboo," someone said, their voice cutting through his thoughts. He barely lifted his head an inch, not ready to tear his gaze from the fragmented mask sitting in his lap over folded hands. Despite his best wishes, his mind began to clear, a fog he didn't know was ever there lifting itself from his conscious. And again, that voice acted as the catalyst to another wave of awareness. "Hey, you with me?"

No , he wanted to cry, not yet, not yet. Just give him some more time, he'll be okay then, he'll answer all the questions they wanted! Just…

He slowly nodded, his eyes flicking up to see a different pair of boots beside the person already there. Purpled had stopped talking - a while ago, in fact. He wasn't staring at Ranboo, he didn't feel more than one pair of eyes on him, which he was slightly thankful for. Still, the second person there, whose voice was ringing the faintest bell in the back of his mind, was staring daggers at his head. 

Barely able to lift his voice above a hoarse whisper, he begged with them, "...stop looking at me." There was a beat of silence, then the ever-heavy feeling of being watched removed itself from his shoulders as whoever moved their eyes away. He muttered a thank you, moving his gaze down to the floor past his own crossed legs. 

"I, uhm," Purpled started, clearing his throat, "I called Dream over. Since he's also dealt with the whole. Alter ego thing." His eyes caught on Purpled's arms, gesturing vaguely to Ranboo's entirety. He would have huffed out a laugh, were he not clinging to clarity of mind. 

Dream, however, did snort. "I didn't have an 'alter ego', I just hid my face. I still do, if you haven't noticed." That's right, Dream was always wearing that mask of his, wasn't he? "I do understand how scary it is to be known when you're trying not to be, though. Do you want anything to cover up your face?" He asked, reaching toward a bag Ranboo didn't know he had.  

He paused, curling his fingers tighter around his mask, then nodded his head. "I...just for a small while…" he rasped out, holding his mask close to his chest. He raised his head to see Dream holding out a bandana. He shifted the broken mask to one arm to take the bandana, putting it on over the lower half of his face and tying it behind his head. "I have...I need to make a stop, quick."

Dream and Purpled, glancing to each other for a second, nodded, standing up. Dream held out a hand, Purpled moving to guard the opening of the alley, and Ranboo took Dream's hand, letting the masked man pull him up. 

He staggered forward, letting go of the hand and grabbing instead on Dream's shoulder, taking a moment to steady himself. He had still lost the fight, badly - paired with his state of mind, his balance wasn't particularly at its peak. Dream seemed to be fine with letting Ranboo lean on him, but Ranboo forced himself to let the arm go and force himself to stay standing, regardless of how much he swayed.

Flanked on either side by both Dream and Purpled, Ranboo made his way out of the alley, trying not to lean to much on either of them. He was already being too much of a burden with this identity business, his injuries could wait for another time. Preferably when he wasn't at risk of losing any anonymity he had left. 

His surroundings were all too familiar, yet nowhere near as quiet or comforting as it usually was. While there wasn't much noise surrounding him, aside from the extra pairs of footsteps and his own labored breathing, his thoughts made up most of the noise ringing loud in his ears. His worries, while normally already bad enough, were nearly tripled in amount and volume, giving him a damn bad headache on top of everything else.

Honestly, his injuries weren't as bad as they could be. They were about as bad as normal; just bruises scattered around his torso and arms. The bruising around his arms were made worse by the...ordeal, after the match, and were much more defined as hands than they would be on any other day, but all it caused was an aching soreness covering him like a blanket.

Far from warm, far from comfortable, but something normal enough to keep him from falling back into a deep dissociation. The uncomfortable pain pulsing through his veins with every step he took kept him awake, and he was thankful enough for that. Obviously, he'd like to be kept awake by any other means, but he'll take what he can get. 

Eventually, he held out an arm to stop the other two, pausing to look up and down the street. His ears flicked back and forth, searching for any sound that might hint towards a follower of some sorts. 

He was extra paranoid, tonight. For good reason, to be honest.

Both Dream and Purpled went dead silent, and he thanked them in his heart as he was able to pick out absolutely nothing else. He nodded, lowering his arm before ducking into the alley with the ever-present empty dumpster. 

He could feel the confused looks he was getting from the other two, but shrugged them off and ignored them, kneeling down and reaching under the dumpster. He could swear he heard Purpled gag under his breath, and felt a tiny smile quirk at his lips, though he quickly pushed it down. Serious time.

He pulled out his trusty duffel bag, zipping it open and promptly dumping his fractured mask into it. He took a plain t-shirt from the bag, glancing over to Dream and Purpled and clearing his throat. 

It took a second, but the two blinked and nodded, turning around and blocking the alley from the street's view. 

With a sigh, Ranboo began to change. It wasn't doing much, really - take off the suit jacket, put a shirt over the button-up before slipping that off underneath. Same deal with the pants. He isn't stupid, he isn't going to outright change clothes in an alley . 

When he was done, he coughed again, kicking the duffel bag underneath the dumpster. The two turned around, and he stepped out of the alley, rubbing his arm awkwardly. "So…" he started, tone giving away how exhausted he felt. He wasn't ready for any big, emotionally charged discussions about his life. 

Before he could continue, Dream clicked his tongue and shook his head. "It's way too late at night for that conversation. We'll deal with it tomorrow," he said decidedly, like it had already been settled.

Ranboo couldn't help the wet laugh that escaped him, shaking his shoulders as he walked between Dream and Purpled in the direction of his house. "I thought sitting on your emotions was a bad thing." He was joking, really, but his voice never conveyed sarcasm all that well. 

Regardless, Dream seemed to get the joke, laughing as well. "We aren't letting anything simmer. We're just...procrastinating a little. We'll talk tomorrow, when you're well rested and fed and stuff."

"You're having that conversation. I don't do sentimental," Purpled piped up from beside Ranboo, dragging another chuckle out of him. 

He looked to the ground, nodding for a second. "Niki already knows, so, uh," he trailed off a little, shrugging, "...she'll probably want to be part of the conversation."

Dream snapped finger guns his way, and he could only imagine the grin taking place under his mask. "Got it."

Ranboo smiled, looking up as his neighborhood cam into view. Purpled excused himself, waving the two off and leaving them to walk the rest of the way. 

A 'thank you' sat in his throat like a rock, but when he reached his house and turned around, he just waved in silence as Dream left. 

Please don't leave me alone , a tiny voice in his mind called out, pleading for any positive attention it could get. Scowl unseen in the dark of the night, Ranboo turned around and entered his house, locking the door behind him. 

_________________

-

'cool people only (12 days since last injury)'

purpled: just punched a guy, feelin good

annoying child: ?????

purpled: mf called someone a pearl farm i had to do it to em

wiblur: huh.

wiblur: i mean good job?

purpled: dude man its not smth to congratulate me on

purpled: people suck and i hate them

wiblur: o mood

wiblur: did he punch back?

purpled: he wishes he could land a hit

annoying child: PURPLED MY FRIEND YOU TERRIFY ME

purpled: good

purpled: ludwig voice i am not your friend

the blade: I haven't heard that insult in years ew

the blade: last person I heard use it was in Hypixel though

purpled: funny story,

the blade: this is why I left. god.

wiblur: to quote purpled, ever the elegant fellow:

wiblur: people suck and i hate them

purpled: i know im so quotable

wiblur: so eloquent

purpled: f

wiblur: amazing, fantastic, superb

Chapter Text

When Ranboo woke up, his first coherent thought was ' oh, I fell asleep on the couch again.' He was on his side, facing the rest of his living room with a blanket half-hazardly pulled over him. The only pillow he had was the arm rest, leaving his neck stiff and his back uncomfortable. It was something he'd gotten fairly used to, though, since he almost always tended to sleep on the couch when he was stressed. It was easier to fall asleep in the open, where he would be jolted awake if anything happened inside or outside the house. His room was too isolated for that - if someone broke in, he wouldn't hear it at all. 

Usually he was fine with that, but on days where his anxiety was already at an alltime high, he wouldn't get a wink of sleep in the small closet-sized space. His own paranoia would keep him awake. So, it was easier to just bring a blanket downstairs and sleep on the couch. 

He'd taken to keeping a blanket draped over the couch more recently, though. With his stress constantly peaking, he didn't even want to think about how much worse his ability to sleep would be had he tried sleeping in his room.

A neck cramp in the morning was a trade he was willing to make for a decent night's sleep. 

His second thought, of course, was 'oh, fuck .'

He was not in the mood for an emotionally charged conversation today. If he was being entirely honest, he never was and never would be, but today was just worse than usual. It might have something to do with the previous night's events. 

Scratch that, it was definitely because of the previous night's events. 

Nothing was more appealing than pulling the blanket over his eyes and pretending it wasn't morning. Or, what he assumed was morning. He hoped it was morning. 

But, alas, he was already awake, and his mind refused to fall back asleep. 

He should probably check his phone. 

They hadn't really set any specific time for when they wanted to talk. Or a meeting place. It was kind of an honor rule they were running on - hoping Ranboo wouldn't just ghost everyone one final time and disappear off the face of the earth. 

He wanted to, he really wanted to , but he did, deep, deep down, know that this was for his own good. 

Even though he fucking hated it . 

What was he going to say, anyways? 'Oh, my parents don't love me, so I have to make my own money,' 'Oh, I don't actually remember when or how I got into fighting, sorry,' 'It's okay if I get injured, because it happens often anyways!' Everything he could possibly say was just...guilt-tripping. It made him a victim, it made him vulnerable, it made him whiney . Like he was some damsel in distress, and he needed pity and sympathy to live. 

He wasn't careless. He was perfectly capable! He'd gotten this far without his identity ever getting leaked, that had to account for something! He wasn't stupid, he wasn't careless, he wasn't weak . He knew what he was doing. 

But, no matter what, this conversation was going to make him out to be a poor boy. An idiot. A bumbling moron that bit off more than he could chew, even though he'd been faring just fine . They would swoon and fawn and say he's so strong for making it this far , and then he'd never be allowed to be alone. He'd get smothered in false affections until they eventually dropped him because he wasn't some poster kid for neglected children. He'd gone through enough of that the last time he made the mistake of mentioning his parental situation to his middle school. 

He got whiplash from how quickly they went from pampering him like a pet to ignoring him just like his own family, when they realized he didn't actually want or need any special treatment. 

He didn't want to be treated like a newborn baby, he didn't want to get pampered out of some misplaced guilt, and he didn't want to be looked down on for surviving.  

At least Niki understood that much. She didn't like it, but she knew he would be alright. She understood that he knew what he was doing. 

Oh, she should probably be involved in the 'conversation ', actually. Right. She knew more than him on this, most likely. 

He reached out blindly for his phone on the coffee table across from him, hand hitting the wood a few times before grasping what he hoped was his phone. Rubbing his eyes as he brought the device up to his face, he cringed at the time. It was almost noon. He was lucky it was a weekend. 

He ignored the numerous missed messages and calls that had spammed his phone the night before, making a beeline for Niki's contact and opening up the chat. 

-

'Niki(flower shop), Ranboo'

Ranboo: hey

Niki(flower shop): ranboo!

Niki(flower shop): are you okay? purpled mentioned hypixel and the insult so i assumed you were involved

Niki(flower shop): and you haven't been answering your phone either 

Niki(flower shop): god, ranboo, i was so worried

Niki(flower shop): are you alright?

Ranboo: oh geez uh

Ranboo: yeah, I'm okay

Ranboo: i had a problem in hypixel and purpled helped me

Niki(flower shop): does he know?

Ranboo: yeah. he does. 

Ranboo: so does dream.

Niki(flower shop): oh, ranboo

Ranboo: they wanted to talk with me about my involvement in rings

Ranboo: correction, dream wanted to talk with me

Ranboo: and i wanted to know if you could also be there for the talk?

Niki(flower shop): Of course

Niki(flower shop): you're sure you're okay?

Ranboo: I'm fine, niki

Ranboo: i promise

-

He let out a puff of air and fell back onto the couch, phone slipping out of his hand and onto the floor. It was a miracle, really, that the thing still worked with all the abuse he put the poor phone through. Maybe that was where all his luck went. It had to be, with how haywire everything else seemed to be going. 

He had to get up, soon. He knew he did. 

He really didn't want to. 

With a dramatic groan that nobody else would hear ( good ), he heaved himself up, dragging himself off the couch with a pathetic amount of effort. He picked his phone back up on his way away from the couch, begrudgingly opening up the group chat. He refused to talk one on one with anyone except for Niki.

Not that he didn't trust them. He just. Didn't have the energy to deal with them personally. 

-

'cool people only (9 days since last major injury)'

Wilbur(dye shop): the specifics of the gc name are making me uneasy

Wilbur(dye shop): have there been recent minor injuries

Purpled(avoid qs): lmao yeah

Techno(pink hair): have you met anyone from this group

Techno(pink hair): I, for one, am not surprised

Purpled(knows): it was ranboo again lol

Purpled(knows): you know how whiny tommy's gonna be if ranboo resets the counter again

Dream(stab wound): That is far to true for my liking

Ranboo: yeah you're right

Dream(stab wound): jesus christ

Techno(pink hair): Speak of the devil and he shall appear

Techno(pink hair): sup ranboo

Ranboo: not much! you?

Techno(pink hair): same here, not a lot going on 

Wilbur(dye shop): 'not much' he says, despite the earlier claims of him having minor injuries

Ranboo: Not Much!

Wilbur(dye shop): understood, thank you

Dream(stab wound): ranboo, you good to meet at the park at 4?

Ranboo: yeah

Ranboo: Can Niki come?

Dream(stab wound): if you want her to, sure

Techno(pink hair): dream don't deal the kid drugs

Wilbur(dye shop): ^

Wilbur(dye shop): that's MY thing green boy

Dream(stab wound): i'm….not selling him drugs

Wilbur(dye shop): boring.

-

He sighed, dragging a hand down his face.

Guess they were going to the park, then.

Chapter Text

If Technoblade was being honest, he really didn't want to be here. 'Here' being in the park, in the bright and annoying afternoon, pretending he didn't notice the odd looks he was given by children and their parents. His hands, scarred and begging for unwanted questions, were shoved in his pockets as he walked along the stone path that ran around the park in a winding and frankly confusing 'guide'.

He hadn't planned to be here, in all honesty. In fact, this whole idea - meeting, whatever, same thing - was sprung on him not even half an hour ago. 

Dream was lucky Techno lived so close to the park, bastard. He wouldn't have shown up at all if he had to walk any further; if Dream so much as mentioned his lateness to whatever the hell was happening that was so urgent , he was getting decked. Middle of the day or not.

When Technoblade woke up, the sun had long since risen, and there had been a plate of breakfast on the table next to his bed. Presumably left there by either Phil or Edward. If it was someone else, he would be concerned, considering those were the only two that had access to his room. And. The house as a whole. 

He'd woken up, and he thought, ' today's going to be a good day of doing absolutely nothing, since I'm retired and obviously nobody is going to call me to ruin my morning .'

And then his phone rang, with Dream's name buzzing obnoxiously at him from the cracked phone screen. (He'd thrown it a couple of times, during fits of anger and poor impulse control. He was better about that now, but he couldn't be bothered to replace the phone. It worked, anyways, no reason to swap it for a new one.)

He was going to ignore, he really was , but then the word Hypixel so elegantly graced his screen and he had the sinking understanding that his conscience wouldn't let him miss a meeting with that god-awful ring without consequences. Nothing involving Hypixel could be good, or anywhere close to it. 

So, here he was. In the park, getting judged by people he could easily snap in half (but won't , Phil ) as he made his way to what he assumed was the meeting spot based on the incredibly vague description he was given. He took out his phone and read the messages back, even though the unhelpfulness of them refused to change, and he refused to ask for clarification. 

-

'Me., rival'

rival: hey, techno?

Me.: mm

rival: hello to you, too

Me.: what do you want.

rival: hm

rival: can we talk in person?

Me.: why?

rival: it's not really something to talk about over text

rival: i mean

rival: we could, but we'd have to make a new chat for it

Me.: so this involves other people

rival: yeah, sorry, but

rival: it's about uh

rival: hold on need to ask someone something

Me.: ominous, huh

rival: sorry

rival: ok, it's about Hypixel

Me.: who else is involved?

rival: so far, me niki and ranboo

Me.: interesting group

Me.: what do they have to do with Hypixel?

rival: again, have to talk in person

rival: but it's mostly regarding ranboo

Me.: cool

Me.: where?

rival: ?

Me.: where are we meeting nerd?

rival: So you're coming?

Me.: no. i just wanted to know where to go for jokes.

Me.: yes i'm coming

rival: Awesome.

rival: the park about two blocks away from your house, near the bench with a bloodstain on it

rival: 4 afternoon

Me.: dream that is in less than an hour

Me.: dream it's 3:40

Me.: dream. dream i just woke up.

Me.: answer me you coward.

rival: you'll know

Me.: THAT TELLS ME ABSOLUTELY NOTHING

Me.: DREAM

Me.: HMMMMM

-

He sighed, glaring at the ' read ' sitting peacefully underneath his message, sent 30 minutes ago. 

It was 4:07, now, so he was most definitely late for this mysterious meeting, but again, he couldn't really be blamed. Maybe, if he'd taken some form of vehicular transportation, like a bus, he'd have gotten here earlier. However, he was petty, and was going to take the longest route he could to get to the park out of spite. 

He only sort of regretted that now, still having no idea where this bloodstained bench was in the park. He'd just have to keep his eyes peeled for the sickeningly vibrant green Dream always insisted on wearing, then. God knew the man would never save anyone the eye strain that came with being within 5 feet of him. 

And there it was, just beyond a particularly loud and angry child. A hint of a radioactively neon sleeve, and Techno picked up the pace. 

On the way to the park, he'd tried not to think too hard about what this meeting was about, since he'd find out, anyways, and it was always better to avoid misconceptions whenever one can, but. But. His mind constantly refused to listen to what he wanted, and hadn't an ounce of reason, despite him so desperately wishing it so, and his head was alight with possibilities. 

He'd assumed from the second Ranboo was mentioned that this had to do with the boy's nearly impressive ability to get gravely injured every two days then insist he was fine - especially considering the conversation from last night, and Ranboo's 'minor injuries.'

But he head was stuck on the how of all those injuries, what possible reason Ranboo could have for being hurt so often . Even he hadn't gotten that hurt that frequently , and he'd been one of the reigning terrors of Hypixel.

There was still the possibility of Dream actually dealing drugs to the kid. He'd said he wasn't, but one never really knew when it came to Dream. Or anyone in the groupchat, really. He'd learned that the hard way from the whole L'Manburg situation with Wilbur however long ago.

He'd made a note to stay away from politics, after that. Yikes. On the bright side, he'd found out where he laid on the political scale.

He shook his head, shooing the memory from his mind as he approached the small group in front of him with a small wave. He'd smile if he wasn't painfully aware of how unfriendly his smiles came across as. 

Dream was standing behind the bench, leaning on the back of it with his arms folded over the top. Niki stood to the side, her hands awkwardly folded in front of her as if she wasn't quite sure what to do. Then, in the center of it all, sat Ranboo, seated right next to what Techno could barely make out to be a washed out bloodstain that had yet to be sanded out. His shoulders were hunched over and his eyes were glued to his feet. It took all the energy he had not to sigh at the sight - this wasn't going to be a fun conversation.

Dream waved right back at him, and he could only assume the man wore an amiable grin underneath that stupid mask of his. Niki looked up at Dream's movement, startling when she noticed Technoblade and offering her own smile as she beckoned him over.

Ranboo, however, didn't seem to notice him. 

Not keen on terrifying the boy, who was clearly already panicking, Techno sat on the ground near the bench, cross legged on the worn out path.

Ranboo jumped the second someone new entered his line of sight, and Techno could see the second any recognition lit up behind his eyes as his shoulders sagged a little.

And for the first time since he'd gotten there, someone spoke.

____________

"Uh, hi, Mr. Blade." Ranboo winced at the raspiness of his voice, showing off just how badly he'd cried the night before and how little he'd spoken since then. The man on the floor huffed out what he assumed was a laugh, and his cheeks heated up in embarrassment at the unnecessary politeness in his speech.

Just a few words in, and he was already making a fool of himself. Great.

At first, when Dream had asked if he could invite Techno over as well, he'd been nothing short of confused. What did the pink-haired man have anything to do with Ranboo's poorly hidden double life as someone that got beat up daily? Yeah, he'd helped Ranboo calm down from a panic attack that one time ( which was too nice of him, and had Ranboo constantly thinking of how to make it up to him ever since, though he'd never admit that ), but was he really necessary for this conversation?

But, oh , apparently he'd also been involved with Hypixel, because of course he was! It seemed like just about everyone in Ranboo's life did, at this rate! He wouldn't be surprised if his 90 year old neighbor showed up to a fight!

When Dream brought up Techno's alleged experience in rings, he had been skeptical. Of course he had, he wasn't an idiot that believed everything he heard. But, no, yeah, Dream had immediately sent a photo of Techno's name on the leaderboard, and oh boy where had he seen that before ?

Still, that didn't explain what he had to do with a conversation that, he assumed at least, was about him not going to rings anymore. 

Then Dream mentioned the man's retirement, and oh , that's what he had to do with it. He'd successfully retired from fighting entirely, and had barely any trouble with cutting all ties he had to it. He couldn't help but feel like that was mostly attributed to how terrified everyone was of him, but still, he had the cleanest retirement out of anyone else he knew. Surely, he would have some sort of advice for Ranboo's 'situation'.

So, he'd agreed to letting the man join them in the park. And now, here he was, sat in front of him on the ground. 

It made Ranboo uncomfortable to be above Technoblade, if he was to be completely honest. He cleared his throat when he felt the silence stretch on for longer than he liked. "So, um…" he trailed off, though, not really knowing what to say or how to start. He looked to Niki for helping, frown tugging at his cheeks when she poorly stifled a laugh at his silent pleading. 

She coughed at the look, turning to the two not on the bench. "What do you want to know?" She asked, her tone serious as the smile slipped from her face. Ranboo thanked whatever gods had control over his life that he had Niki, who knew what he'd be doing without her. 

Techno hummed, thinking about it for a moment, but Dream beat him to talking. "What's up with your parents?" He asked, tilting his head. He sounded genuinely concerned, but his wording left a little to be desired. Ranboo winced at the bluntness, looking down at his hands, fiddling in his lap. "Wait, no, that came out wrong, uh-"

"No, it's, I get it, um," Ranboo cut him off, shaking his head with a laugh. He quieted down, eyes trained on a freckle on his knuckle. "They…" he paused, trying to find the right words, "...they're out."

Techno looked up, raising an eyebrow. Similarly, Dream turned to him with a curious noise. Someone - Niki - placed a hand over his arm. "Out?" The masked man echoed, almost cautiously. 

He took a deep breath, nodding as he held back a grimace. "Yeah...out. They've been out for two years, now. Business trips keep overlapping, and they used to come home every few weeks, even for a night. But, uh, then they stopped." He frowned, finding himself more upset at recounting it than he expected to be. "They pay the bills, still, and taxes, but they don't really do anything else. Food, clothes, school. I have to pay for all of that."

"They don't send any money?" Techno cut in. Ranboo's vision had tunnelled in on his hands, blocking out everyone around him. He flinched at the man's voice, but scoffed when the words set in.

"A whole 10 dollars," he spat, resentment bubbling up. "Each month, ten dollars, because they don't think I need any more. And god forbid I ask for any more, because they're already doing so much for me." His surroundings melted away as he kept talking, his audience almost entirely forgotten as he kept ranting. "I got a job, because I had to , but that was nowhere near enough to cover everything. I can't get a full time job, I'm in high school , so I needed something else. And I- god, I don't even remember how I got into the fighting, the rings, the whatever ." 

His visions was blurry, tears building up in his eyes and threatening to spill. He could hear the small sizzle of them sitting at his water line, already burning everything they touched, because he can't even have this one moment without something going wrong. 

"I can't remember anything . I need a document to help me, and even then, I don't write anything about the rings down. I can't , because what if someone finds it? It's illegal, and I'll get in trouble, and my parents wouldn't pay a single cent for bail money because they can't be bothered to come home for my birthday!" He sniffed, furiously rubbing at his eyes with his sleeve and ignoring the searing pain that came from the action. He flinched as soon as he voice rose in volume, quickly quieting back down. "That's - that's my whole hospital thing. I can't pay a hospital bill on my own. So whenever I- when I got too hurt, I'd go to Niki, and I can't even remember how I met her , and I-" He stopped, choking back a sob. He crumpled in on himself, hugging his arms close to him as the realization struck him. " I can't even remember what my parents look like! " He said, taking in a sharp breath. "Oh, oh god, I can't- we don't have any family photos, they aren't in my contacts, I don't - I have no idea what they look like, anymore."

The dam broke, and he clapped his hand over his mouth as he let out a sob. Someone put a hand on his shoulder, in what was probably meant to be a comforting gesture, but he violently ripped himself away from it in his panic. He bit in his hand as another sob tried to tear itself from his throat, pressing himself to the side railing of the bench to get away from the touch. 

He couldn't even be comforted well. They were trying to help, he knew they were, but his mind was too ramped up on adrenaline - which was never a good thing. Adrenaline meant fighting, and fighting meant touch = bad. Violent. Aggressive. Touch meant he was going to be dragging himself to Niki's workplace after hours again, holding all of his emotions in just so he could sleep that night. 

A familiar, hushed voice was talking to him, and he was struck with a sense of deja vu from inside his cacoon of balled up self.

The voice asked if they could touch him, and if that didn't give him pause. They were asking ? People...people didn't ask to throw a punch, so maybe? They weren't going to hurt him?

Hesitantly, reluctantly , Ranboo nodded, bobbing his head just above his knees to be seen before hiding back behind his legs. The next thing he knew, his hands were being gently pried from his arms, and he noticed something trailing down his arm- oh. He needed to cut his nails, soon. 

His hands were free, now, and they twitched with the need to grab onto something, anything , to ground him for even a second. The feeling lasted for barely a beat before he was wrapped up in someone's arms, enveloping him in a hug.

And. Wow. It had been...a while, since anyone hugged him. 

He, at first, tensed at the sudden contact, muscles jumping at the ready to get the hell out of dodge, but then nothing else happened. No squeezing, no throwing, no broken ribs. Just. Just a hug. 

When his brain caught onto the fact that he was in immediate danger, he wasn't going to be hurt , he just about melted into the hug. He threw himself further into whoever's chest, wrapping his arms tightly around them, as if they would run away if he held them any looser. He sobbed into the crook of their neck, and instead of shoving him away and calling him weak, they pat his back and muttered reassurances. 

He cried harder, but they kept talking, kept holding him, and he was so sure he would break them in half at this point.

Eventually, he calmed down - his breathing slowed, his grip softened - and he pulled himself away from the hug despite the adamant protest in the back of his mind. He wiped at his eyes, again, and huffed in irritation at the sting that greeted him. He'd need to get more burn cream, huh?

He looked up, finding Techno sitting in front of him with his legs crossed - arms neatly folded in front of him. Wasn't he on the floor-?

Ah. They were both on the floor. When had Ranboo gotten on the floor?

That didn't matter now, he supposed, as he slowly connected the dots in his head. He let out a wet chuckle, running a shaky hand through his hair. "This-this can't keep happening, every time we meet up," he joked to the man across him, relaxing at the short laugh that escaped the latter.

"Do you want to keep going, or do you want to stop for now?" Niki's voice asked, from behind him. And, man, wasn't that a good question?

He hummed, looking at the path underneath him. "I, uh, I'll keep going, keep talking. I don't really, ha, want to do this all again later." 

He caught the movement of Techno nodding, and Niki made a noise of confirmation at his back.

Slowly, carefully, he took a deep breath, and started to explain.