Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Ranboo had just wanted a normal day.

Just one.

Was that too much to ask for?

Exasperated, Ranboo watched his fellow students scream and run from the ghost as it tore through the school. Lockers slammed open and closed at intense speeds, as books and pens flew through the air attacking the student body. Pushing through the crowd as fast as possible, Ranboo ducked as a math textbook got a bit too close for comfort.
Rushing towards the now deserted English classroom, Ranboo quickly slammed the door behind him. Looking around the room to make sure he was alone he noticed the destroyed classroom and winced. Mr. Blade wasn’t going to enjoy this one bit, Ranboo thought already picturing the annoyed look his English teacher would get at the state of the room. It was the same look when he and his friends got in trouble. Or rather Tommy got the three of them in trouble.

“Where is the one they call Tubbo!” the poltergeist practically roared in anger, followed by more thunderous slamming noises. Ranboo rolled his eyes, not surprised by this information, because of course, his best friend had something to do with it. Ranboo takes his eyes off him for one second, and the next thing he knows the entire school is being ripped about and covered in weird puddles that Ranboo could only assume were dangerous. What were the chances the angry ghost bent on hurting his friend was leaving around puddles that benefited anyone? Probably not all that great. He might have had the rest of the student body fooled, but Tubbo could cause trouble like nobody’s business.

“I’m going ghost!” Ranboo said closing his eyes and feeling his body change. It was a sensation he had never really gotten used to. Feeling his body become light, and the power’s he felt intensify. Even after a few months he never got used to it. The first time he had spotted himself after the change he hadn’t recognized himself. His blond hair turned half black and white, and one of his eyes changed to a ruby red color. The other had stayed green, only becoming more piercing and glowing than usual.

“Hey ya old hag! I’m right over here so why don’t you come and get me!” Ranboo heard Tubbo call out from the hallway, taunting the ghost. It was like he had a death wish sometimes. Well, maybe not a death wish, but he sure did love causing more chaos, which only brought along the death most times.

Ranboo quickly phased through the wall, determined to save his best friend from the pummeling the ghost was definitely wishing to give him. He immediately spotted the ghost at the other end of the hall wielding glass vials with some sort of liquid in them with a lab coat donned. He recognized them though, even in their ghostly form. They were the form of one of the school’s previous science teachers who died while experimenting with some sort of chemical bomb. It had been decades ago, but Ranboo recognized them from the photograph he’d been forced to clean while during one of the many detentions he landed after Tommy or Tubbo had gotten them into something. No doubt Tubbo had insulted the ghost in some way causing it to want to come after him.

Quickly, Ranboo teleported behind Tubbo who had been defiantly staring the ghost down, never one to back down from a fight. Rushing towards while invisible, Ranboo had just been able to grab hold of the back of his fluffy coat and start pulling him down the hallway, before the vials landed on the spot Tubbo had been moments before. Quickly, Ranboo teleported away to the other side of the school putting as much distance as he could between the ghost and Tubbo. Teleportation was only a skill he had just started learning and hadn’t yet been able to exceed any long-distance jumps yet. Nor, could he use this ability in his human form as he could with all the other abilities he had.

“Hey! What are you doing I was going to win that fight!” Tubbo shouted trying to fight out of Ranboo’s grip as he placed him down on the ground. Immediately, Tubbo turned and glared at his friend hovering in the air in front of him, annoyed he’d been take out of the fight.

“Tubbo how were you planning on beating a ghost?!” Ranboo asked genuinely confused about his friend’s insane thought process. It wasn’t like he’d be able to land a hit on her after all. Tubbo froze thinking hard about the question as if that information had just occurred to him.

“I could always just sick Tommy on them,” Tubbo reasoned as they both recalled the time a ghost had actually abandoned the fight because of how annoying they thought Tommy was. He hadn’t stopped bragging about being able to defeat the ghost without Ranboo’s help for weeks. This of course had only made the ghost come back to get revenge on Tommy for taunting him, though this time equipped with an industrial pair of earplugs. He hadn’t been too happy about accepting Ranboo’s help that day. Ranboo of course didn’t gloat about this… much.

“Okay, and where is Tommy?” Ranboo pointed out knowing that Tommy had skipped school that morning. Ranboo never understood how or why Tommy would skip the first class of the day though. All three of them had English with Mr. Blade, Tommy’s eldest brother, after all. There was no way he wouldn’t be caught immediately. Though, now that Ranboo thought about it, Tommy probably did it just to annoy his eldest brother.

“Alright, that’s a fair point, BUT, I raise you the fact that I knew you’d come in clutch!” Tubbo said attempting to pat Ranboo on the shoulder before his hand phased through him. Ranboo snorted at the sentiment, knowing better.

“You had no plan did you?”

“Nope, not a bit,”

Ranboo wasn’t even surprised at this point. Between the three of them, Ranboo usually was the only one with any sort of plan. Not that it was always good, but they were plans nonetheless.

“Will you stay here while I go deal with the ghost?” Ranboo asked already guessing the answer.

“Probably not,” Tubbo admitted honestly shrugging his shoulders. Yeah, Ranboo didn’t think so.

Pulling the thermos Ranboo had started keeping on himself at all times he passed it to Tubbo “Fine, but at least have this on you so you can trap it alright?”

“Sure thing Boss Man,” Tubbo said grinning, eyes shining as he thought of all the chaos he could bring to the ghost dimension with the thermos.

“That doesn’t mean go hunting for the ghost! It’s only in case it finds you. Got it?” Ranboo declared remembering all the reasons he didn’t let Tubbo actually keep the thermos. He and Tommy could definitely wreak enough havoc without the ghost dimension involved.

“Mmhmm got it,” Tubbo said half-heartedly clearly not listening as he tossed the thermos in the air before catching it again.

“Oh, really what did I say then?”

Tubbo froze,” uhhhhhh… hey don’t you have a ghost to be fighting right now?” realizing he had been caught and trying to shift the conversation.
Ranboo sighed knowing there was no real point in trying to talk to Tubbo about safety precautions. He had never listened and probably never would. This was the same kid who figured out how to make something equivalent to a nuclear bomb from his household materials. Safety precautions hadn’t ever been something on Tubbo’s radar, and they probably never would be.

“Fine, but I’ll be right back,” Ranboo said or more like warned. Tubbo shook his head vehemently, but Ranboo knew as soon as his back was turned he’d be sprinting around the school, looking for the ghost.

Ranboo phased back through the wall and started hunting for the ghost. Hopefully, he’d be able to find it before Tubbo did something and it found him. That didn’t exactly give him a lot of time.

Teleporting around, Ranboo began to hear it yelling out in search of Tubbo. Following the trail of chaos, it had left in its wake it didn’t take that long for Ranboo to find her again.

“As a teacher, don’t you think it’s a bit much trying to annihilate a student?” Ranboo called after them gaining their attention. The teacher turned quickly, glaring at him, before chucking a vial at him. Phasing through the floor, Ranboo dodged the vial and got closer to the ghost.

“How dare you! That boy dared to insult my experiments, and he will pay for what he’s done!” the ghost yelled before throwing another vial at him. Dodging this one as well, Ranboo figured she was telling the truth. While Tubbo hated school, he was more of a mad genius than anyone else Ranboo knew. He probably corrected whatever formula this old bat had that killed her and her spirit had come up for revenge. Launching up from the ground he landed a swift kick on her throwing her back and into the floor. Ranboo landed crouched on the ground and watched as she moved her floating vials in front of her like a shield. Ranboo had enough sense about him to know better than to touch whatever was in those vials.

“Don’t you think this is a bit much? I mean he only fixed your experiment right?” Ranboo questioned, charging up his fist with his purple glow. The ghost teacher’s face darkened and the lockers began ripping themselves off of the walls. And they had just been fixed after last week too. Maybe it was just best if they didn’t have lockers though, Ranboo thought, as one launched at the air at him. Jumping over it, he turned back to face the teacher as more vials appeared around her as her anger grew.

Launching several vials at intense speeds through the air the teacher’s voice practically screeched “MY FORMULA WAS PERFECT!!”
Ranboo managed to dodge the first one, but couldn’t dodge the second or third one. Even incorporeal, the liquid splatted him. Immediately, the bi-colored boy felt woozy and his powered-up fist disappeared as he began to cough. Kneeling on the ground, Ranboo tried to steady himself, but whatever was in those vials was no joke. Maybe he should be worried about Tubbo figuring out their formula and correcting it, but that would have to be a worry for later.

“I told you it was perfect!” The ghost teacher cackled watching the teenager struggle against the effects of the chemicals. Ranboo’s chest hurt as he clutched the part of his suit just over his heart. It couldn’t kill him, right? Ranboo sincerely hoped not. Tubbo and Tommy would never let him live it down if he did.

“Hey, ya old bat! Looking for someone?”

Quickly, Ranboo’s eyes landed on the figure of his best friend rushing down the hallway from behind the ghost. Groaning, Ranboo wanted to tell him to run back, but he knew it would just be a waste of breath. The teacher turned around, eyes widening before reaching for one of the floating vials surrounding her.

Ranboo’s own hand shot up as he once more channeled his energy and shot a purple ball of energy at her hand, knocking it away before she could throw the vial at Tubbo. Tubbo, taking the opening, unscrewed the thermos and pointed it at her, catching her in its ray. The ghost struggled, trying to reach for more of her vials, but it was no use. The thermos pulled her back into the ghostly dimension, and Tubbo slapped the lid back on it, sealing it up tightly.

Ranboo let out a sigh of relief, before laying down on the ground of rubble. Tubbo rushed over to him as Ranboo transformed back into his human form.

“You good Big man?” Tubbo asked the boy carefully watching him inhale and exhale. Feeling a tad better than before, Ranboo confirmed that he wasn’t going to die from it at least.

“Yeah, I’m good. She couldn’t really kill me since I’m half dead already, apparently,” Ranboo said tiredly. While they hadn’t killed him, they did rob him of most of his energy. The energy shot he had managed to hit her with had barely been strong enough to do any damage. Looks like he’d have to start training more in dodging objects. This meant Tubbo and Tommy would get to pelt him with things, but Ranboo had a sinking suspicion they’d enjoy it.

“Aww man I missed it didn’t I?” another familiar voice complained. Speak of the devil. Ranboo and Tubbo both turned their heads as they watched the third member of their trio hop over the piles of rubble, making his way closer to them.

“You missed a cool one too!” Tubbo gloated at the younger teenage boy as he reached them, ” you know that old crazy science teacher? Apparently, she doesn’t take too well to being called out for being an idiot,” Tubbo declared once again taunting the ghost as if that wasn’t how they had ended up in the situation, to begin with.

“Tubbo! Are you trying to summon her again?” Ranboo glared at the bushy brown-haired boy exasperated. Tubbo only smiled back, as innocently as he could. Ranboo could almost believe the innocent enough smile if he didn’t already know the mischievous glint in his eyes all too well.

“Man! Tubbo this is why I told you to call me before you summoned ghosts!” Tommy exclaimed crossing his arms over his chest, annoyed he had missed the fight. Wait for a second.

“What do you mean summoned?” Ranboo questioned lowly, already able to guess what the two had been up to. Ranboo sits back upright and watches the other two realize they'd been caught. Immediately, the two’s gazes grew wider, and they both took a very sudden and deep interest in the floor and ceiling.

“You two haven’t been summoning ghosts, just to fight them, right?” Ranboo asked tersely already knowing the answer. Tommy had the audacity to start whistling while glancing around the ceiling and twiddling his hands behind his back. Tubbo tried to look ashamed, but Ranboo wasn’t buying that for a second.

“Alright, that’s it. I’m letting the ghosts have you lot!” Ranboo exclaimed, half-jokingly, reaching out to grab the thermos from Tubbo and release all the ghosts they had captured in the past few months.

“Hey! Now hang on, Ranboo!” Tubbo exclaimed launching to his feet and shoving the thermos behind his back inching down the hallway, never taking his eyes off of Ranboo as he moved backward.

“Nope, too late!” Ranboo teased back getting to his feet preparing to take off after him. It wouldn’t take long either. Even if it would be faster as a ghost since he wouldn’t have to dodge objects, Ranboo’s legs were much longer than Tubbo’s. If he hadn’t just heard how they’d been intentionally summoning ghosts to get him to fight he might have considered giving him a head start. Might have. But Ranboo remembered the lecture he'd gotten two weeks ago from Mr. Blade after a ghost attacked them on their way to school and Ranboo had shown up late. Ranboo almost wished he had just let the other ghost win so he could've avoided it. All while Tommy and Tubbo watched from their seats after abandoning him to fight on his own. Yeah, no headstarts. Ranboos body tensed up, as he prepared himself to go after Tubbo.

Suddenly, arms wrapped around under his armpits and latched together in front of his chest. Tommy had managed to get a hold of him.

“Run, Tubbo! I’ve got him!” Tubbo’s eyes widened as he realized this was his chance to escape. Tuning around, he quickly began sprinted down the hallway.
Ranboo turned his head eyeing his blond friend carefully.

“Oh don’t worry, I’ll be coming back for you later,” Ranboo warned before phasing through Tommy’s hold and taking after the short brown-haired boy. Tubbo, hearing the set of sneakers on the linoleum turned and yelped at the sight of the 6’6 giant running at him at top speed. How they had managed to forget one of Ranboo’s main abilities and thought they could restrain him, Ranboo would never know. Maybe because it had used to work before he had gotten his powers. Now, whenever the two got into messes they had created, Ranboo usually had the advantage to get them back under control.

“Run Tubbo!” Tommy called choosing wisely not to run after the duo, knowing it was inevitable that Ranboo was going to catch him. It was probably best to go and take shelter. Reminding himself to apologize to Tubbo later, Tommy took off down the opposite end of the hallway determined to find a good hiding spot till this all blew over. Tubbo would understand, right?
Ranboo caught up with Tubbo and quickly hoisted him up in the air. Shouting and flailing his arms and legs, Tubbo struggled to break free but to no avail.

“Now, what have we learned?” Ranboo asked as if scolding a toddler, all while holding the teen in the air with no problem.

Sighing, Tubbo stopped flailing and solemnly said, “not to summon ghosts for our amusement.”

“Good,” Ranboo replied taking the thermos back before setting Tubbo back down on the ground. They turned and realized Tommy was nowhere to be seen. A moment of silence passed as the two boys began scheming.

Turning they made eye contact before Tubbo asked, “wanna go grief him?”

“Oh of course,”

He had after all skipped on the day the three of them had to present a group project as well as leaving them to deal with his older brother’s questioning of where Tommy had skipped off to. Taking off down the hallway they set after Tommy knowing that he couldn’t have gotten that far.

Ranboo laughed as they turned the corner and caught sight of Tommycatching sight of them approaching and letting out a yell, before turning down another hallway. Yep, this was the life. Sure, the ghost fighting was a bit new, but the trio hadn't really changed that much. These were the good days.

Ranboo just wished he'd known that before things fell apart.

But for now, he chased after his friend, already thinking of the revenge he was going to get on the two.

Chapter Text

Ranboo should’ve known better than to take Tommy up on his double dare, but hindsight is really 20/20. Fumbling into the bathroom he grabbed hold of the sink and managed to raise his pounding head to look in the mirror.

Only, it wasn’t his reflection he was greeted with.

Staring at the strange reflection in the mirror in confusion, he watched as it moved with him. Falling onto the floor in a heap, Ranboo tried to figure out just what was going on. It had all started a few hours ago.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“So we’re still on for tonight at mine right?” Tommy asked popping up from behind Ranboo’s locker as he slammed it closed at the end of the day. Jumping in shock Ranboo let out a small squeak of surprise at his sudden appearance. Tubbo, who Ranboo just realized was next to him as well, burst out laughing at Ranboo’s reaction.

“Well, now I don’t want to go you, bullies,” Ranboo stated annoyed at the two. This wasn’t even the first time they had done this to him either. As soon as they figured how easy it was to jumpscare him they did it at least once a day. Ranboo was pretty sure they kept a tally board of who could scare him the most, but he couldn’t prove it… yet.

“Oh come on boss man! You really should be used to this by now!” Tubbo managed to say in between laughs. And as annoying as he was, he did have a point. Ever since he’d transferred here and joined them they’ve been doing this. It had been months at this point and Ranboo’s reactions still cracked the two up, much to Ranboo’s annoyance. Though, he did suppose he had his own ways of getting back at the two.

“I’m going to throw both of you into the sun,”

“Yeah, sure, but are you still coming over tonight?” Tommy asked ignoring the threat from Ranboo. He had yet to act on any of his threats. The worst he’d do is prank the two of them over the weekend, or rat his hide-out spot to his brother the next time he skipped his class. It wouldn’t be the first time, probably not the last either.

“Yeah, yeah, I’m still coming. We haven’t missed a sleepover since I’ve been here, right?” Ranboo said and the group began walking down the hall. Every weekend the trio would hold a sleepover at Tommy’s house. It had quickly become a tradition for the group. Tommy’s house was usually the hangout spot because while Tubbo’s dad never really cared where he ran off to, and Ranboo’s parents were never home, Tommy’s brothers knew if he was unsupervised for too long he’d wind up on the news.

Again.

It was an offense that no one was in a hurry to repeat.

So Tommy’s house it was. As the trio cracked up going down the hallway, Ranboo began to feel the hair on the back of his neck stand up under the gaze of the student body. Adjusting his mask Ranboo shot glances around, watching the people around them feeling uncomfortable. Ranboo hadn’t figured out why they were always watching him until two months after befriending Tommy and Tubbo. In reality, they weren’t actually watching Ranboo. More so they were gossiping about Tommy. Ranboo sighed, annoyed at the whispering that followed them. No matter how long ago all this happened people still wouldn’t leave Tommy or his family alone about it.

They knew better than to say anything to Tommy, especially during class, and with his brother was right there, but afterward was fair game to them. It wasn’t until Ranboo had gone to Tommy’s house for the first time and Tommy explained to him his family that Ranboo understood why the school viewed him the way they did.

Tommy’s father, a man called Phil, and his wife Kristin, and moved here just after Technoblade and his twin brother were born. They were renowned ghost hunters and had come to Amity Park because they believed there was a connection between the town and ghosts. For several years the two experimented with theories as to why and messed with things they probably shouldn’t have.

It hadn’t taken long before the experiments to cause Kristin to get sick. Sick sick.

Tommy had just been born, and it wasn’t long after Kristin passed away. The people of Amity park began gossiping that the reason she died was that the couple had made a deal with the Devil, trying to understand the dead. They said because of that the entire family was cursed, and anyone they interacted with was doomed to die. The rumors were only made worse when Phil lost all sense of rationality.

Driven mad by grief, Phil gave up on everything and desperately began to search for a way to force open the ghost dimension so he could bring Kristin back. To the point where he practically abandoned the twins and forced them to raise themselves and Tommy on their own. Their home’s basement was converted entirely to make the portal, and weapons to capture any ghosts who got in Phil’s way. Phil rarely, if ever left the basement, and the town’s gossip over the strange family grew.

Gossip spread and the people of Amity park began calling Kristin the Goddess of Death, driving her Angel to perilously search for her, and if she was ever found, the town would be cursed to be a graveyard for Death. The townspeople relentlessly persecuted the family. Berating the twins any chance they got, and saying they were all cursed to follow their mother’s death. Petitions went up to force the family out, but since they hadn’t really done anything, they couldn’t be forced to leave.

Technoblade and Wilbur were the first to bear the rumors in school, and confronted their Father, pleading with him to stop. Begging him to come back to their family, and give up on bringing Kristin back. They realized that it was pretty much hopeless, but Phil only grew angry at the twins, claiming they had never truly loved their mother if a few rumors were enough for them to give up. Not even his sons were worth it anymore if he couldn’t bring Kristin back.

Technoblade began teaching himself ways to defend himself in case anyone tried to harm them, and as a way to distract himself from his Father. Wilbur threw himself into his music, politics, and taking care of Tommy. They did their best to raise Tommy on their own and away from the rumors, and Tommy never experienced the hatred from the townspeople. It wasn’t until Tommy entered kindergarten did everything reach a boiling point.

While the twins had adapted to defending the townspeople’s words and abuse, Tommy wasn’t really prepared for what was going to happen. On the first day of kindergarten, some of the other kids, after hearing the ways their parents cursed at the family attacked Tommy on the playground. Ranboo could still see a faint scar on Tommy’s chin where they had thrown rocks at him.

That had been the last straw.

Technoblade and Wilbur descended into the basement and confronted their father telling him that he could either stop or work someplace else. That they had enough. Phil had tried to argue back, but the boys had enough. After hours of the three of them arguing they came to an agreement. Phil could keep looking for Kristin, but he couldn’t do it here. Ranboo wasn’t sure what made the man agree to abandon all of his progress and just leave, but he did.

That had been the last time anyone had seen him. The town calmed down after Phil left, but many still watched the brothers carefully, as if they were going to raise the dead at any moment. There had been protests when Technoblade returned from college to teach English and the fencing team, and even when Wilbur got involved in politics, but most let it go. The brothers always kept their guard up just in case the town decided to change their minds again.

All that remains of Phil’s work now, is the abandoned basement, still full of ghost hunting equipment, and the unfinished portal. Noone had the heart to tear it down, instead, they ignored the basement entirely. It was easier to pretend it wasn’t there at all, Ranboo figured.

Ranboo hadn’t really cared for the rumors, but he knew they bothered Tommy. Ranboo knew he was too young to really remember his mother at all, but Phil’s abandonment seemed to hurt more than his mother’s passing. Kristin hadn’t chosen to die, Phil chose to leave him behind. Tommy hadn’t said much besides the bare minimum of what his brothers had told him when they deemed him old enough to understand.

“I’ve got the perfect dare for tonight!” Tommy exclaimed, and Ranboo snapped out of his thoughts, only just now noticing that they had arrived in front of Tommy’s house. Slamming open the door, Tommy threw his bookbag on the floor beside the door and made his way to the kitchen. Tubbo and Ranboo followed behind, with Ranboo shutting the door behind the group.

“Hurry up and come on!” Tommy’s shout came as he took the stairs two at a time. Tubbo sent Ranboo a quick grin and sprinted up after him. Ranboo knew that grin and sure enough, a moment later Tubbo shouted out-

“Last one up has to go first!”

Throwing his hands up he chased after the two, but even with his extra height, Tubbo had made sure to get up far enough to beat him before issuing the said challenge. It was usually what happened though, so Ranboo wasn’t that annoyed with it. He’d just learned to accept it and get back at them later.

“Ya know it shouldn’t count if you two are already up here right?” Ranboo stated when he reached Tommy’s room at saw the two giggling to themselves. That only caused the two to burst into laughter.

“If we started from the same place there’s be no way we could beat you!” Tommy declared chugging one of his many Cokes. Ranboo was almost positive that he had some ability to just summon them because he definitely didn’t have it before racing upstairs.

Resigned to his fate, Ranboo plopped down into Tommy’s computer chair and began absent-mindedly spinning himself around. Surely it couldn’t be anything too bad… actually scratch that. This was to the same guy that after the school tour he took him to go grief one of their teacher’s houses. Not realizing they had been seen, and then the Mayor had to come down and because they were friends.

Tommy’s amazing defense was -- “How was I meant to know you know you knew him?”. It hadn’t helped his case and he was expelled for two weeks. This also hadn’t helped any of the rumors around his family, but most chalked it up to rebellious teenagers. Getting a bad feeling, Ranboo steeled himself for the worst.

“So what is this dare then?” Ranboo inquired and after a moment of silence, he turned to look back at Tommy. A look passed over his face, and Ranboo swore the room’s temperature dropped ten degrees.

“... what’s the dare, Tommy?” Ranboo gulped suddenly terrified of whatever it was to put that look on his face.

“Tommy?” Tubbo asked hesitantly slowly waving a hand in front of Tommy’s face. Ranboo knew that look. He’d seen it right before Tommy suggested griefing the computer teacher’s house. Getting ready to jump to his feet and rush out of the room before Tommy could suggest what Ranboo knew would be an awful and possibly illegal dare. However, Tommy was a bit faster.

“Ranboo, I dare you to go down into the basement, alone, for an hour,” Tommy stated and Ranboo’s blood went cold. Silence filled the room and the idea of the basement hung heavy over them. Ranboo half expected Tommy to burst out laughing and saying it was a joke. When he didn’t, sheer panic-filled Ranboo, and for a moment he wondered if Tommy was intentionally trying to get him killed.

“Tommy! You do realize your basement is off limits!” Tubbo pointed out. He’d know too. He had gotten lost trying to find the bathroom his first time over and almost accidentally went in. Would’ve too, if Technoblade hadn’t been home. He’d been scared of the man ever since. Ranboo couldn’t really blame him. He’d gotten enough lectures fencing with him to know better than to intentionally annoy him.

“Well, if it’s Ranboo I doubt they’d kill him,” Tommy offered as if it was meant to be a consultation, but Ranboo wasn’t really having it. Tommy doubting his imminent death at the hands of Technoblade or Wilbur was surprisingly not comforting.

“Just because I actually turn in my homework doesn’t mean he won’t take it out on me for the rest of our lives!” Ranboo exclaimed, maybe slightly overdramatic, but Technoblade wasn’t someone you intentionally tried to annoy. Well, unless you’re Tommy, who derives pleasure from it.

“Look, Technoblade will be grading papers until late, plus I’ve got these!” Tommy said before reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key chain. Silence filled the room as Tubbo and Ranboo watched the keys swing back and forth from Tommy’s ring finger.

“Tommy,”

“Yes,”

“Please tell me those aren’t Technoblade’s car keys,” Ranboo asked calmly as Tubbo placed a hand over his face and turned away to face the wall, knowing the answer already. Ranboo prayed they were both wrong. Surely, not. Tommy slowly lowered the keys, eyeing the two carefully.

“... I can neither confirm nor deny,” he said lowly not making eye contact with Ranboo. A chill passed through Ranboo and a part of him could almost hear Technoblade. They were so dead.

“Tommy!”

“He’s going to realize you snatched them!”

“How would he realize that?” Tommy said offhandedly before pausing. Panic flashed in his blue eyes as the reality of the situation dawned on him. As nice as it was to see that Tommy did in fact know that he might die, Ranboo had wished he’d have realized this before acting on his plan. But, Tommy never had been one for planning things out all that well. Everything with him was purely instinctual.

“You have met your brother, right? How he knows half of what he does is beyond our understanding,” Ranboo pointed out. It hadn’t taken him long to figure out that if Technoblade knew you had a secret, he’d have it figured out. That is if he felt like putting energy into it. Ranboo had a sinking feeling that his missing car keys would be enough to gain his attention.

“Well, even if he does, he’d still have to get here first. He won’t notice that his keys are gone till late, and Wilbur’s busy at the office most days. I think he’s with his band right now recording something so his phone’s off. Techno would have to either wait for Wil to swing by and get him or walk home. I’d have plenty of time to make a run for it,” Tommy explained to the two, and Ranboo questioned just how long he’d been planning this for. Deciding it was probably better to not question how long he’d been planning this Ranboo moved on.

“Well, why don’t you go down there?” Ranboo asked before immediately feeling like he’d shoved his foot in his mouth. He knew why. Tommy’s face falls a bit, almost unnoticeable if you weren’t looking for it, and Ranboo felt even worse about his question.

“Look, Ranboo you’ve been issued the dare and you know the rules. You turn down the dare, you’ll have to take whatever punishment I can think of, and trust me, it’ll be worse than just spending an hour in the basement,” Tommy said and Ranboo shuddered. He didn’t doubt Tommy’s ability to make life unbearable if he did refuse the dare.

“Fine. One hour, and then I get the next dare,” Ranboo agreed and Tommy smiled.

“Guys, you know it’s a bad idea when I’m the one saying you shouldn’t do it,” Tubbo groaned not really enjoying the idea of having an angry Technoblade again.

“Don’t worry Tubbo, if we get caught we’re pinning all of this on Tommy,” Ranboo said getting to his feet and moving towards the door.

“Hey!” Tommy called after him jumping to his feet and following him down.

Fast-forward another argument, Ranboo found himself descending the basement stairs hand trailing down the wall in the darkness so he didn’t lose his way. Tommy had talked him into wearing one of the old ghost hunting suits his father had prepared for the boys when they got older.

Sometimes it was just easier to go along with Tommy, hence why he was even doing this in the first place.

Walking into the basement a chill went up his spine. Quickly, Ranboo turned the fluorescent lights on and blinked at the sudden invasion of light. Looking around to get his bearings, Ranboo studied the basement nervously. Long counters surrounded three of the walls, everything on them covered in sheets collecting dust with papers littering the floor half haphazardly. Though that wasn’t gained Ranboo’s attention. On the right wall, he saw Phil’s final project. The one he had given everything up for.

The Ghost Portal.

Shivering, Ranboo hesitantly went closer, regretting every step he took. Cursing at Tommy and hating himself for being so jumpy, Ranboo tried to steel his nerves.

The portal didn’t work, he knew that. He had no reason to be scared. There were no ghosts here. Just a reminder of what Phil had chosen above his sons.

Walking closer, Ranboo admired the structure. He didn’t really know what any of it did, maybe Tubbo would. If they were ever dared to come back down here, he’d try and remember to ask the boy what he thought of it. Inching closer Ranboo stood at the mouth of the portal watching it intently.

It almost looked… complete? Ranboo couldn’t be sure, but some part of him felt that it was finished. There were no obvious places left to work on, and other than maybe a layer of dust, everything appeared to still be attached. But that can’t be. If it was finished then why had Phil spent so long down here? Why’d he just up and leave if he’d finished the portal? With how Tommy had explained it to him, there was nothing more important to Phil than this portal and using it to get Kristin back. Why or how could he just leave it?

Something was wrong. Very wrong.

Wondering into the portal, Ranboo twisted his head to get a look at every angle of the monster. It was then something in the main lab cluttered before the glass shattered.

“Oh, cheese!” Ranboo yelled frightened at the sudden noise. As he backed up to get away from whatever had caused the noise his foot caught on one of the wires. Flailing backward, Ranboo slapped his hand on the wall trying to steady himself before he fell to the floor.

Suddenly, the wall he had slammed his hand against pressed down. For a moment horror passed through Ranboo as he fell, and his hand slide off what he now knew was a button.

Slamming against the floor, Ranboo winced as pain shot up his tailbone. It was then Ranboo could hear a low whirring from all around him growing louder and louder. Looking around him, the machine began to light up, purple light growing rapidly. Realization dawned on him, and he tried to scramble up to his feet, but before he was able to pull himself up and out of the portal, the light overwhelmed him.

The pain seemed to envelop him from every angle, and Ranboo could swear he felt his insides being ripped out of him. Ranboo’s throat burned, and it was only then he realized he had been screaming, the noise of the machine overwhelming even that. Ranboo managed to remain conscious for a few more moments, but ultimately darkness overtook everything.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Waking up who knows how long later, Ranboo’s whole body felt as if he’d be pulled through a folding press. There wasn’t a part of him that didn’t ache in some way. Sitting up, it took Ranboo a minute to remember just what had happened to him. Staggering up to his feet, he launched himself out of the portal.

The now off portal.

Confused Ranboo fumbled into the bathroom, trying to gain his bearings before he went back upstairs. It was here he noticed his new changes.

How was he meant to explain turning the portal on? Or even his new appearance, Ranboo thought glancing back up at the mirror. Had it just been a hallucination? Standing back up, Ranboo faced the mirror once more only to be met with the same reflection as before. Instead of his sandy-colored hair, it was white and black, matching the suit he had donned, and his eyes. While one at least looked kinda normal, other than the glowing green, the other was a bright crimson color. Yeah, explaining this wasn’t going to happen.

Well, that’s it he was screwed.

“Ranboo? Time’s up! You can come back up now,” Tubbo’s voice called and Ranboo’s heart sunk.

Nope, now he was officially screwed.

“Please, change back,” Ranboo practically begged. Who exactly he wasn’t sure. Maybe himself. Or whatever God caused him to be this unlucky. He had just gotten used to life here. Started making friends. Felt like he’d actually made this place home. Now, what was he meant to tell them? What if it was permanent? What if the townspeople blamed Tommy? What if this ruined everything they had worked for?

Starting to hyperventilate a bit, Ranboo willed every part of himself to change back.

Much to his surprise, something did start to happen. Something surrounded him, slowly began to work its way up and down him starting at his midsection. In the mirror, Ranboo watched amazed as the circle moved. His jaw dropped as it passed over his face though.

Somehow he was back to normal.

Normal hair, normal eyes. Still in the suit, but he had been wearing that before the accident after all. The circle that had encased his body disappeared after it passed over his head, and Ranboo felt his legs go out. Collapsing back down on the floor Ranboo tried to catch his breath. His mind running a thousand miles a minute, Ranboo frantically tried to figure out what had just happened to him.

“Bossman? You good?” Tubbo called hesitantly from the staircase. Shaking his head a bit, Ranboo got back to his feet. Whatever was happening was far too confusing right now. Wanting to shout up to Tubbo, that no he was not in fact good he decided against it.

Ranboo couldn’t even figure out what was going on with him. He needed to sort himself out before he told anyone else. Whatever was going on was far too weird to just blurt out when he himself had no idea what had happened. Plus, he couldn’t be sure how Tommy was going to react. He had entered his Father’s ghost portal and messed with it. Sure, Tommy had dared him to go down here in the first place, but Ranboo had a suspicion that he wouldn’t be too happy if he had broken something, or worse.

Exiting the bathroom, Ranboo took the steps two at a time, meeting Tubbo at the top of the stairs.

“Are you alright? I’ve called a few times and you never answered. You don’t look so good,” Tubbo asked seeing the pale and slightly freaked-out look on Ranboo’s face.

“Oh yeah, just creepy old basement,” Ranboo chuckled awkwardly, inwardly cursing himself for being a terrible liar. Tubbo eyed him carefully as he pushed past him before throwing the basement door shut.

“I’d uh, I’m going to get going though. I forgot I had something I had to take care of tonight,” Ranboo lied cringing again at how fake it sounded. The trio never made plans for Fridays. Those were dedicated hangout nights. Tubbo’s eyes narrowed as Ranboo went to the front door, reaching down and grabbing his bag before throwing open the front door. Rain poured down in a heavy sheet, but Ranboo didn’t even pay attention to it.

“I’ll see you and Tommy on Monday!” Ranboo yelled over his shoulder, before slamming the door shut, before Tubbo could say anything. Blinking in surprise, Tubbo watched the front door trying to figure out what had happened. It had been enough to overcome even Ranboo’s dislike for getting wet.

Turning, Tubbo eyed the basement door with suspension. Something obviously had to of happened while he was down there, but for whatever reason, he didn’t want the two of them to know about it. If he had gotten scared that’s one thing. Ranboo knew he could at least tell them that. So, what would have caused him to just, run out like that?

Walking to the door, Tubbo pressed his ear against it, trying to listen in.

“Now, do you want to explain to me exactly why you’re at the basement door Tubbo? I could’ve sworn we had this conversation before,” a voice called out calmly and Tubbo let out a yelp of fear. Even without looking, he knew who it was. Turning his head back to face the front, Tubbo was now faced with a soaking wet Technoblade. Tubbo knew he looked like a deer caught in headlights, but that was how he felt. Like prey trapped by a predator.

“Now Tubbo, I’ll let this slide, so long as you don’t warn Tommy and tell me exactly where he is,” Technoblade said eerily calm as he placed his ruined briefcase on the floor.

“Upstairs in his room,” Tubbo gulped. Mentally he apologized to the blonde, but it wasn’t like he hadn’t warned him before his idea was dumb. Besides, it wasn’t like Tommy hadn’t ever sold him out to Tech either.

“Thank you Tubbo,” Technoblade said in the same calm tone as he removed his shoes. Yep, Tommy was a dead man. Tubbo wondered what food they would serve at his funeral. As Technoblade began to walk up the stairs, he turned and forced a smile back down at Tubbo.

“It would be best if you waited down here,”

“Roger that,” Tubbo agreed without hesitation not needing a refresher of Technoblades fury. Tommy really didn’t either, but for whatever reason Tubbo couldn’t guess why he kept annoying his eldest brother. Tubbo would have Tommy’s back no matter what. Except for against Techno.

Deciding the living room would be the safest place right now, Tubbo plopped onto the couch. He assumed Technoblade had made it into Tommy’s room judging by his friend’s screams.

“Hey wait Technoblade!”

“No, wait! I yield!”

The yelling continued so Tubbo could assume that Technoblade hadn’t let him yield. Tuning out the yelling, Tubbo’s mind went back to the panicked and dazed look Ranboo had as he had come back upstairs. Sure, they laughed at him sometimes for being easily startled, they all were really, but he’d never been that freaked out before to just leave?

He knew he’d open up about whatever had happened eventually, but Tubbo couldn’t help but worry. What happens if Ranboo decides he didn’t want to spend time with him anymore?

What if Tubbo drove him away by not being there? Or if he pushed too hard would that force him away as well? Tubbo and Tommy had always been joined at the hip, but Ranboo wasn’t Tommy. He hadn’t known him long enough to know what to do here.

What if his dad was right? Tubbo wanted to scoff at the idea of that alcoholic being right about anything. He’d long figured that most of what he said was nothing more than a drunk man angry at the world, and Tubbo took great pride in proving him wrong. Which he normally did, yet sometimes it was hard to keep the negative things he said out of his mind. What happens if he wasn’t wrong about this? Tubbo liked Ranboo. He liked how he treated him. How he laughed at his jokes and wasn’t bothered too much by the duo’s jokes.

Trying to force the idea down, Tubbo listened to the rain, and the shouting above. Making up his mind to go over to Ranboo’s house tomorrow, Tubbo curled up on the couch, planning how he was going to talk to his friend.

Not knowing his friend was going through his own existential crisis as half of his body was currently through his floor.

Chapter Text

Ranboo knew he was in deep shit. He'd known for a while that his luck would eventually run out. He had hoped it would have waited a bit longer before deciding to screw him over, but alas that wasn't his lot in life.

After the events of Friday night, Ranboo considered a multitude of ways he could hide from the world. From changing his name to plastic surgery, Ranboo considered it all. He did doubt his ability to hide from Tubbo and Tommy though. Over the weekend he'd ignored everything and everyone was terrified of what their reactions to him might be. He doubted they would be good. He could see the messages from Tubbo and Tommy coming through, but he couldn't bring himself to open them. 

The meager control he'd found last night in the basement had disappeared once he had made it back home. After wrestling himself out of his floor for what felt like hours. Ranboo finally managed to fall asleep. Though, it couldn't be called a fitful night's rest. What felt like every other hour Ranboo had given up on sleep. It just wasn't going to happen. Every time he closed his eyes -those other eyes were staring back at him. 

Deciding that a better usage of his time would be trying to figure out just what exactly was wrong with him. Well, what was newly wrong with him. 

Several times throughout the night, Ranboo lost control. He would shift back into his "other form" and be stuck like that till he calmed down. Only for the cycle to repeat. Although it did give him a moment to figure out what he could actually do. Accidentally, phasing through the floor allowed him to learn that he could permeate through objects. But that pales in comparison to the other ability he found that he had. Somehow he was able to pull some purple energy into his palms. It tickled his hand, but it didn’t hurt. Hesitantly, he struck his hand out and watched in amazement when the energy left his hand. The amazement quickly faded into horror as the blast went through his bedroom wall, leaving behind a fiery blaze. Rushing forward, Ranboo quickly extinguished the small blaze and tried to figure out how he could hide the new hole from people.

 It was also upon closer inspection he realized it wasn't just his eyes and hair that changed. His body seemed to emit frost, and he knew if he was "normal" he would've frozen to death. Ranboo wanted to laugh, for all he knew he was already dead. 

Looking closer in the mirror, he realized his ears had elongated, appearing more like elf ears. The color of his skin tone overall had changed. In some places, it looked kind of like stone? Ranboo couldn't be sure though. Right now he couldn't be sure of anything. That hadn't been the only thing to change. His teeth had grown and sharpened. His teeth scraped against his mouth and he could taste blood. Somehow though the cuts in his mouth were healed by the time he transformed back. Weird. He looked freaky. Frankly, his skin tone and his teeth changing was the least frightening thing that had happened in the past 24 hours. 

He was a freak. Tears leaped to his eyes and for what felt like the millionth time that weekend he cried. What even was he anymore? Was he still human? Could he even be called living anymore? Ranboo's hands began to shake as he lost control of his breathing. Hyperventilating, Ranboo kneeled on the ground. Putting his head between his knees he crouched, slowly rocking back and forth as his panic grew. He knew he was having a full-blown panic attack, but there wasn't much he could do about it.

Ranboo stayed awake for the entire weekend. Practicing control. Every time he thought he had it he'd transform again. The ring surrounding him would appear and flash around him transforming him bit by bit. Every time it happened he'd freak and lose more of his already fragile control. It was an endless cycle. He knew though if by Monday morning he hadn't responded to Tommy and Tubbo and then didn't show up for class they would come here. they would see him for the monster he had become.

Looking around at the mess that was his house he knew that also wasn't an option. The one hole had quickly become far too many to blame on raging over a game, and besides, they would know he wasn’t one to get physically violent over a game. They wouldn’t buy it. Sighing deeply as the morning sun came through his blinds. He pulled himself out of bed and grabbed the first thing he found from his closet and decided it would have to be good enough. Catching a glimpse of himself in the mirror he almost debated not showing up to school. It would only take his friends one glance at him to jump on him about what happened. What was he even going to say to answer their questions?

Though the only other option was to have them jump him here. Glancing at his destroyed and slightly singed room, he shook his head at the idea. At least at school, there would be witnesses to his murder. A part of him hoped they'd plant alliums around his grave. And hopefully, his secret could be buried with him then. 

Grabbing his bag and hoping for a lucky day for once in his life, he yanked open his front door. 

"Well that certainly took you long enough," a familiar voice called from the railing on his stairs. 

Ranboo wanted to groan. Of course, just one day of good luck would be asking too much. All he could be thankful for though was not jumping out of his skin and losing control of the already fragile control he had on his transformation. Today of all days would be bad to get jump scared. Walking past him and onto the city street, Ranboo focused on his feet trying to make sure he didn't fall over. He knew Tubbo would take one look at his face, and know something was wrong. Well, Ranboo supposed it didn’t matter. If he had gotten here this early then he was clearly already worried. 

"Geez Tubbo! What are you doing here ?" Ranboo questioned but was only met with silence. Turning back to stare at the boy who was only staring back at him, worry clear on his face. This is what he had been worried about. He had hoped for at least a bit more time to figure at what lie he was going to give him. He always had been a crap liar. Yet, now he had to keep such a life-threatening secret. 

"Man, why does it look like you haven't slept since you left Tommy's house ?" Tubbo asked right back, grabbing ahold of Ranboo's arms as he tried to keep moving down the block. As much as he wanted to say it was because he hadn't he knew it would only land him in deeper trouble. Forcing the sarcastic comment back, Ranboo swallowed hard. 

"I just got a bit distracted playing video games is all" Ranboo quickly lied having already planned out what he was going to say when he was asked about why he looked so tired. Teenage boy - lover of video games = perfect alibi. Maybe. 

"Oh really? Then do you mind explaining why Tommy and I never once saw your account go online? Or why you never answered our messages?" Tubbo asked, crossing his arms over his chest and glaring up at Ranboo. A chill passed through Ranboo's bones, the first sign that he was about to lose control and transform. Not even 10 minutes in and he was already slipping. No, calm, Ranboo. Just because he thinks you’re lying doesn’t mean he figured out what happened in the basement. 

Pausing, Ranboo realized while he might be a dumbass, Tubbo wasn't. Usually.  

"Oh, that's cuz I played offline it was less stressful that way." Ranboo quickly explained trying to hide his obvious lying tone as best as he could. All he could hope for was he never had to try and pass a polygraph test. Although, if this was a permanent thing, Ranboo might have enough practice by then to actually pass it. He wasn’t sure if that was something he should be proud of though. 

"Ranboo" 

"Yes, Tubbo," 

"You're lying," 

So, he was but Tubbo didn't have to call him out on it. Couldn’t they have just all tried to ignore the obvious lie and go about their day? Quickening down the block Ranboo tried to avoid Tubbo's accusation. In his haste, however, he forgot they were a trio and not a duo. He should've known they were going to be ready for him to make a break for it.

"And just where do you think you're going?" another familiar voice asked and this time Ranboo did let out a groan this time. Of course, they decided to corner him. Ranboo did feel a twinge of pride and fear at the thought. Pride because they were learning. Fear because Oh God they were learning. Ranboo sent a quick prayer for the general public.

Tommy appeared in front of him ready to march him to school on his opposite side. 

"You look like shit," 

"Why thank you so much, Tommy. I don't know what I would do without your insightful say," Ranboo replied sarcastically, eyeing Tommy. Tommy only rolled his eyes and laughed. 

“That’s what I’m here for Big Man,”. Ranboo only rolled his eyes at the comment, deciding not to respond as the school came into view. 

The trio made their way into the school building. Students pushed past them as they made their way to their lockers. 

"Ughhhhh I don't want to go to English," Tommy complained. If Ranboo wasn't concentrating so hard on not losing control he'd laugh at how normal it was. Every morning -or at least every morning Tommy showed up -he would complain about having to attend his brother's class. Technoblade would make sure to get payback during their fencing practices when he skipped though. And of course, Tubbo and Ranboo were thrown in as well because Techno knew they knew where Tommy would run off to. 

"Tommy, you never want to go to class," Ranboo pointed out as he blearily opened his locker. Tommy paused and glared at him, hand hovering over his locker as Tubbo chuckled. 

"Oh, I know you aren't talking with your face looking like shit," Tommy retorted, a tad embarrassed for being called out. Tubbo burst into full-blown laughter causing some heads to form and glare in their direction. Ranboo's skin crawled under their gaze far worse than it ever had before. It was like they all knew what a monster he was. 

They all knew.

They all knew.

They all know. 

Ranboo's breathing picked up, breathes coming in short bursts. His attention moved from his two friends to the crowd he could feel staring at him. Staring through him. His hands began to shake as his eyes darted back and forth, waiting for someone to call him out for what he was. A chill went down his spine, and he could've sworn the room's temperature dropped 10 degrees. 

"Boo? Are you alright?" Tubbo asked moving to gain Ranboo's attention again. "Do you have your mask with you?" Numbly, he nodded his head before reaching into his bag and grabbing his mask. Tubbo knew he had problems -probably the understatement of the year- but he knew he desperately needed the comfort his mask and glasses brought him. Another thing that made him a freak. A part of him -maybe the younger dreamer- had wanted to help as many people as he could. Reach as many of them as he could. Yet, how could he do that when he could barely have people from school look at him. Maybe… in another life. 

Placing his mask over his face, and trying not to cringe at the black and white color. All it did was remind him of his other self But, for the first time in what felt like days he could finally breathe easily. Ironic.

"Better?" 

Ranboo nodded his head, focusing on getting the little control he had back. It took a moment before his hands stopped shaking. Even longer before his body temperature went back up to a reasonable level. Raising his eyes back up he was met with even more worried looks than before. He couldn't say he blamed them though it had been a while since his last attack. After he had gotten adjusted to the new place the attacks went away. Only ever bothering him when he got stressed. Good thing he had nothing to be stressed about. 

"Guys I'm fine now. Promise," Ranboo smiled assuredly trying to convince them and himself that he was in fact okay. Tubbo opened his mouth- probably ready to call him out on his lie - when the shrill of the bell startled the trio. 

Sighing, and not at all prepared for the rest of the day -Ranboo closed his locker and turned to head down the hallway with the rest of the student population. 

Turning back when his newly established shadows didn't follow him he called out "You guys are planning and attending classes right?" Ranboo didn't miss the glances the duo passed one another,  but he was ready to ignore them. They went up the flight of stairs to their English room, shuffling past the rest of the pushy students. Ranboo practically held his breath any time anyone got too close, and when Tubbo and Tommy moved to create a little barrier between his body and the rest of the student body, he smiled softly. They never asked too much about his issues, but they were always there, even silently, to make him feel better. The smile faded, however, as he remembered his newest secret. Would that kindness fade if they knew what he was?

"Ughhh, but The Blade is going to be a massive dickhead today! I can just feel it," Tommy continued to complain and Ranboo rolled his eyes, knowing what he was trying to do. Keep some normality between everything, so he wouldn't feel pressured to talk. No one ever gave Tommy that credit. His ability to reassure people by pretending to be an annoying child. That might be why his brothers hadn't killed him, yet. They knew that it was an act.   

"Ranboo, can't you just do my assignment so I don't have to get lectured again? You did get to miss out on Friday night’s lecture," Tommy practically begs to trail after Ranboo and Tubbo down the upstairs hallway. Laughing a bit Ranboo amended his previously thought- sometimes it was just an act.

"Oh, no, not on your life! That's like choosing death," Ranboo said walking into the classroom. Thankfully, Technoblade wasn't there yet. Ranboo could only hope that Tommy wasn't foolish enough to steal his car keys again. Walking towards the back of the classroom Ranboo plopped into the seat and threw his bag on the floor, he prayed that wasn’t the case. Tommy quickly rushed to the seat behind him, no doubt trying to hide from his brother while Tubbo took the seat at his side. Ranboo glanced over at him as he sat down, eyes briefly passing over the clear blue sky outside. Sighing, and wishing he could be anywhere else, Ranboo fixed his gaze forward, steeling himself to survive through the day. 

“What! That’s completely unfair you dick!” Tommy shouted, getting glances and glares thrown at him. Ranboo tensed up, feeling the glances pass over him as well. Panic filled him and the thought of being discovered and what that might lead to. As more people turned to look, all Ranboo could feel was everyone’s eyes on him, all he could think was they knew what monster he had become in Tommy’s basement. 

His hands began to shake at the idea of being caught. Would they lock him up? Would they experiment on him? Would they punish Tommy, Techno, and Wilbur? Would they hunt Phil down and punish him for the machine he had made? What if he got one of them killed? What if… 

Ranboo’s mind spiraled and his panic only grew. Anxiety filled him as the ‘what-if’ list seemed to grow infinitely longer. He felt his entire body begin to shake as the ideas piled up running together in a confusing mess. 

Tubbo's attention was pulled from rifling through his bag for the assignment he was pretty sure was due, as a chill went up his spine. Glancing up, Tubbo looked around for the source of whatever was causing his sudden chill. Immediately, his eyes landed on Ranboo and the slight quivering of his hands. 

“Boo? You alright?” Tubbo asked, perplexed. He knew Ranboo had issues with the public eye on him, and that’s why he carried his mask with him, but two attacks back to back like this? Tubbo hadn’t even seen it this bad when he had just moved here. 

Ranboo’s head jerked harshly as he was pulled from his all too loud thoughts abruptly, “huh? Oh yeah… yeah everything’s all good,” he assured Tubbo quickly while reaching down to grab his own homework. 

Tubbo could see that he was decidedly not okay, but as he opened his mouth to point this out Technoblade walked through the door. Holding his tongue, Tubbo spared the sandy-haired boy another quick glance, before turning his attention back up front, guilt filling him. He wasn’t sure what he was keeping from him, but he knew it had to be bad. This wasn’t the place to confront him about it, but if Ranboo thought for even a moment he was letting the issue worsen he had another thing coming.

"I hope you all did your homework I assigned on Friday," Technoblade called as he placed his new briefcase Tubbo noted, on his desk. Tubbo could hear Tommy groan behind him, which typically would've brought a grin to his face, but once more his attention was brought to Ranboo. More specifically, Ranboo's blank homework assignment. Out of the three of them, he was always the one who did his homework, even pushing the other two to do theirs. In all the time he. Tubbo glanced back over at Ranboo quickly noticing his blank homework displayed on his desk. Now even more concerned, Ranboo was never one to just let his homework go undone. Especially for English, where Technoblade didn’t take so kindly to people being lazy. Out of the three of them, Ranboo was the one that rallied the group to at least do their English homework. 

“Boo? You didn’t finish your homework?” Tubbo asked quizzically looking over to Ranboo before shooting a glance at Tommy. Even Tommy was watching Ranboo worriedly, knowing he was acting strange. Typically, Tommy was the one who tried to help silently, without letting the other person realize he was helping. Typically, this wasn’t actually done in a silent manner though. Tommy only knew annoyance, so of course, he would simply badger the person. Next thing they knew they weren’t upset at the issue anymore, because nothing could be more annoying than Tommy when he was really trying.  For Tommy to break his annoying yet, charismatic character, he had to have been rattled by Ranboo’s behavior. 

“Oh… yeah… I uh. I got too distracted and just… forgot,” Ranboo muttered not meeting Tubbo’s gaze. Tommy and Tubbo glanced at each other, not believing him for a moment. Sure, Ranboo had some slight memory issues, but he had never forgotten his homework before. 

“Well, if it makes you feel better I didn’t do mine either,” Tommy offered after a beat, patting Ranboo on the shoulder. 

“For some reason, I am not surprised,” a sudden voice calls in front of the trio. Looking up they met Technoblade’s gaze, Tommy gulping loudly. Panic filled his eyes, as a half attempted chuckle left him. Technoblade sighed, and pinched his nose, before glancing at Tubbo.

“I can see at least one of you completed the assignment,” Technoblade said, picking up Tuboo’s sheet. Tubbo could see the exact moment he noticed that the majority of his answers were just “don’t know can’t read’. “Well… never mind,” he sighed finished putting the sheet back down on Tubbo’s desk. As he walked away, he let out a huge sigh, but ever so faintly he let slip a slight smile. 

“You three, detention, after fencing,” Technoblade called as he walked to the front of the classroom. Sighing, Ranboo pushed the sheet back into his bag. Could this day get any worse?

A cold breath leaving him was his only warning as suddenly, every window in the room shattered, glass spreading into the classroom. Screams erupted throughout the class, as the students scrambled out of their desks and away from the windows. Ranboo sat, frozen staring at the windows in silent horror. Why did he ask? Nothing ever good happens when you ask, and yet he asked. Like some crappy B-rated horror movie, he just had to ask. Well, his friends had always said he would be the first one to die in a horror movie. They hadn’t been wrong. 

Pulled from his thoughts He finally realized Tubbo was pulling on his jacket sleeve, trying to get him to move. “Come on!” he shouted, finally yanking him up and toward the wall where the rest of the students had gathered. 

“Is everyone all right?” Technoblade asked, standing in between the class and the now shattered windows. Half-hearted replies filled the room, some sounding off to minor scrapes and cuts, but the majority was okay. 

“What just happened?” 

“What’s going on?”

“Was it a bomb?” 

“Are we going to die?” 

The classroom had exploded into questions, but Ranboo could barely focus on them. Had he caused this? What were the odds that the first day he goes to class after the accident, the three huge windows would just shatter like that?

“Everyone, calm down!” Technoblade yelled above the noise as he moved to investigate the window. The class quieted down, but nothing would’ve been enough to completely silence the fevered whispers. Tubbo pulled Ranboo and Tommy further into the back corner of the room so they could talk. 

“The glass came into the room. So it had to have been caused from the outside. There’s no object that came through the windows, and if this was caused by a person they would’ve had to throw at least three objects. Something’s wrong,” Tubbo said, his brows furrowed watching outside the windows. Ranboo’s heart dropped at Tubbo's words. There was no way it could have just been a coincidence. 

Tommy stood and stealthily moved towards the windows to get a better look, making sure to keep out of Techno’s sight. He'd kick his ass if he figured he was endangering himself. "Guys you might want to take a look at this," Tommy said, gesturing for them to come and look out the windows. Tubbo passed a flame at Ranboo before they quietly made their way to the window as well. Outside, it was far worse than they thought it would be.  

Only a few feet past the school's boundaries, a huge sweltering fire raged. It didn't take long before Ranboo realized it wasn't a normal fire.  The fire wasn't moving past where it was either away or towards the school. Instead, it roared in place and if he couldn’t feel the heat from the flames he’d have thought they weren’t real.

"It's like the fire is trying to keep us trapped in here, " Tommy noted, watching the flames with wide eyes. Ranboo's confusion grew, how was the fire here? Was it actually trying to keep them there? Why? Was this Ranboo's fault? It wasn’t like he had set any fires before this morning though. But then what could be causing the inferno outside?

Suddenly, the classroom door burst open and the trio ripped their eyes away from the blaze to see what had caused the startling noise. Standing, or rather hovering in the door frame there was a man with ash black hair and white bandana crossed over his forehead. Bits of his arms were covered in what looked like burn marks and ash, yet the most startling part was the door frame though, where the man had blasted through little fires lingered. 

Well, that answered the fire question, Ranboo thought begrudgingly. The next, almost more important question was who the man was, and why he was there. Oh, and how he started the fires was another good question. 

“I don’t mean any of you harm, I’m just here to pick something up,” the man said making his way into the room. A chill passed through Ranboo as the man’s eyes landed on him. Rather than pupils, this man’s eyes seemed to hold the very fires of Hell in them. 

“Ah, found you,” the man grinned wickedly before making his way to the trio. 

“Get out of my classroom!” The yell of Ranboo’s teacher seemed to pull him out of his stupor and he watched as Techno launched himself at the man. Catching him off guard, the man was flung across the classroom, before collapsing into a pile of desks. 

“Everyone! Calmly leave the room and find a way out of the school, while I deal with them,” Technoblade called, pulling his gaze from the man to his students. Ranboo, still watching the man, was the only one to notice the man phase through the tables and floor, before appearing behind Technoblade. 

“MR!-” Ranboo leaped forward shouting trying to get his teacher’s attention, but he wasn’t fast enough. Just as Techno turned his head, the man- or specter more like- thrust his fist across Techno’s jaw before kicking him across the classroom. 

“Techno!” Tommy yelled rushing forward to his brother’s side. 

“Tommy no!” Tubbo yelled trying to pull Tommy back, but he ripped away from his grip and bolted towards his brother. Ranboo moved to go after him, only to notice the specter had disappeared once more. Opening his mouth to yell for Tommy, he watched him reappear next to Tommy, and wrap his hand around his throat. Tommy yelped as the fist tightened, and his hands came up to try and pry the fingers off, but to no avail. 

“Tommy!” three voices called out as the man only laughed at Tommy’s struggle. 

“I’d listen carefully if I were you. Wouldn’t want me to light up the wrong hand now would we?” The man called, raising his other hand and showing the flames dancing there. Techno froze eyes whipping from the hand around Tommy’s throat, his brother’s pained expression, and the clear jovial expression on the man’s face. 

“My… partner wants something you see. Something the Minecraft family created, though it wouldn’t be anything in your lab. He suspects Tommy here, knows what it is, or perhaps has it. So we’ll be taking him,” The man said and began phasing through the floor, “Although if he doesn’t it would be within your best interests to find it. And quickly. My partner isn’t exactly a patient person.” As they began to vanish, Techno raced forward trying to grab onto Tommy, only for his hands to wrap around only air. He landed on his knees next to where they had vanished, and the class seemed to have stooped breathing. No one was able to comprehend what had just happened. 

Ranboo collapsed onto the floor, horror creeping into his mind. He was what they were looking for. It could only be him, right? Nothing else would’ve left the lab, and for this to happen so soon after his transformation, it just couldn’t be a coincidence. Outside the fire began to dissipate, and it was only then that Techno pulled himself off of the floor. 

“Class, I want you all to go home and protect yourselves. I’ll go after Tommy, but we don’t need anyone else getting hurt trying to go after the ghost,” Techno said, making a point to look at Ranboo and Tubbo, knowing they would’ve already begun plotting. 

The class broke out into whispers as they began to filter out, but Ranboo was far too distracted to really listen to them. As he and Tubbo passed by Techno’s desk, the man looked up at them and fixed them with another intense stare. 

“Boys, no one went into the basement, correct?” 

Immediately, the two froze. They locked eyes before Tubbo turned back to meet his teacher’s gaze,” No Sir, not that I know of at least,” he lied fiddling with his backpack. Shock filled Ranboo at Tuboo’s lie, thinking the other would’ve wanted to give him more information to actually help him go after Tommy. Did he realize something?

“Alright. But hear me when I say this. Ghosts are dangerous creatures. If this one has a partner that means there are more coming through a different portal. They’ll be strong. Stronger than two human teenagers can take care of. Leave this to Wilbur and me alright?” He said, crossing his arms over his chest and fixing the boys with a look. They knew that look. It meant ‘I’m serious. Don’t interfere.’

“Yes, Sir,” they responded before backing out of the room. Tubbo’s hand found Ranboo’s hoodie sleeve and they took off down the hallway. 

“Tubbo slow down!” Ranboo called, struggling to keep his steps passed with the much shorter teen.

“No! Tommy’s in trouble and we’re going after him! Screw what Techno says,” Tubbo shouted not looking back at Ranboo as they made their way back downstairs. Inwardly, Ranboo cringed. If he was right. If he was what they were after… Then he’d have to go after Tommy, but could he afford to get Tubbo mixed up with it as well? Would he even approve of his plan to go after Tommy? He could barely control his form, so who’s to say he’d be strong enough to take on two ghosts, plus get Tommy out of there? So much for Technoblade’s ' don't interfere'.

No, if he went after Tommy he’d be taking his place. But could he afford not to? Rushing after Tubbo or of the building, Ranboo knew the answer. He could just hope that he was strong enough to handle it.