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When Ranboo woke up, his hands were tied behind his back and he was sitting in a chair.
Swallowing, he raised his head and looked around. Sitting to his right, also in the same situation as he was, were Tommy and Tubbo. On his left was Bad. There was a light above their heads, dangling. He took a slow breath, tried to teleport. Thankfully, there wasn’t a burst of pain. Instead, he just…didn’t teleport. There wasn’t any movement. That was just it. He just stayed in the seat.
Slowly, the others woke up. At first, Tommy jerked his head back and proceeded to thwack it on the wall. “Ow.” Swearing under his breath, he rubbed at his head with a shoulder. “Come on, again? This is beginning to happen way too many times for my liking.”
“How many times is too many times?” Ranboo asked, voice pitching up. In between him and Tommy, Tubbo groaned and then blinked, cracking his eyes open.
“Once.”
On his left, Bad stirred. Then, he froze and dropped his head back down on his chest. As he did, someone walked up to the door. Said door slowly creaked open. Looking over, Ranboo and Tommy watched as someone strode into the room. “Hello, there. I’m Jenny, I go by she/her.” She said casually. As soon as she emerged into the light, Ranboo paused. Said person was a blond with long hair tied back in a braid, soft green eyes, and freckles on tanned cheeks. And also, she was…wearing like this white dress-looking blouse thing and jeans and white Converse-looking shoes. “Sorry for kidnapping you, we just wanted him.” She gestured to Bad casually. “And we ended up having you, too, because you were in the same area and…sorry!”
And then she walked over and kicked Bad in the leg.
“Whoa, whoa! Hold on, hold on!” Tommy began, laughing nervously. “Let’s not get violent here. We can be friends.”
“Tommy, they kidnapped us. This is already violent.” Tubbo pointed out sharply. Staring at Bad, Ranboo frowned slightly. Slowly, he watched as Bad shifted his shoulders just ever so slightly. The blond girl didn’t seem to notice.
And then Bad moved.
Jerking forwards, he wrapped an arm around the young woman’s neck. Then, he flipped her. Her head slammed against the concrete floor and she instantly went limp, unconscious. At least, Ranboo hoped she was just unconscious and not…dead.
Panting, Bad stood up, cracked his knuckles. Then, he slipped a pair of knives from little side pockets on his pants, walked over, and swiftly cut through the bindings on Ranboo and the others’ wrists and ankles. “Wow. That was…terrifying.” Tubbo mused.
Huffing lightly, Bad replied, “Sorry. Anyways, let’s get out of here.” Straightening up, he cracked his back. Then, he led the way towards the door and kicked the lock. It skittered back across the ground. Bad peered out. Then, he turned back. “We have company. One second.” He paused. Pointed out the floor. Then, he told them, “Stay.”
Of course they all went to peer out into the hallway when Bad disappeared.
Several people charged at him. Dodging to the side, Bad grabbed one man’s head, slammed it into the wall beside him. Then he dropped down. Swept out another man’s legs from beneath him. Grabbing the back of that guy’s shirt, Bad flipped him over and slammed him into three other people. Then, he dodged forwards. Slammed an elbow into a nose. Smacked someone else into the wall.
And then he brought out the knives. Snatching one of them from the ground, he threw one and slammed it into one guy’s chest. He dropped to the ground. Then, Bad leapt up and kicked someone else in the head. She slumped down. Dodging another strike, Bad literally threw another pair of attackers to the side.
Eventually, there weren’t anymore attackers. The floor was quite literally littered with bodies in various states of unconsciousness, bleeding out, and potentially dying. Rubbing blood from beneath his nose, he turned and then smiled back at them. “Alright, it’s safe to come out now.”
“I’m straight.” Tommy announced. Shoving him in the shoulder, Ranboo shook his head and then walked towards Bad. As he did, he watched the other man’s eyes narrow. Suddenly, wind whipped by Ranboo’s ear, Bad’s arm was fully extended with a fierce expression, and there was a thump on the ground behind him. Freezing, Ranboo turned to see a body on the ground, knife blade driven into their head.
“Sorry about that.” Walking back over, Bad yanked the knife out, wiped it off on his victim’s back, and then jerked a hand over his shoulder. “Come on, let’s get out of here.”
As they hurried out of the compound, none of them really spoke. Bad occasionally had them freeze and stop, then lunged forwards and attacked the people up ahead. A couple of them died, a few others were just left unconscious. Still, Bad would take them down and then just keep walking easily. Like he hadn’t put a crap ton of people on the floor (or occasionally almost in the floor).
Eventually, Tubbo jogged to catch up with Bad. “Bad, where did you learn how to do…you know, this kind of stuff? I didn’t even know that you were awake.”
“I used to competitively throw knives.” Glancing over, Bad smiled lightly and then added, “Besides, who do you think taught Dream and the others what they know? Books can only take you so far.”
They made it through a couple more corridors and then Tommy asked, “So was anyone going to tell us that you’re one of the biggest threats on the SMP, or were we going to have to be kidnapped and find out ourselves?”
“Yes.” Bad replied. Ducking around the corner, he made a gesture for them to stop, grabbed a harpoon from the side of the wall, and threw it. Then, he disappeared for a moment. When he came back, blood was spattered on the side of his jaw and neck. From the way he was holding his side, he was probably a little bit hurt.
“You alright?” Ranboo asked. Nodding, Bad hurried them the other way and made sure no one glanced back. “You sure, Bad?”
“Perfectly fine. Now, let’s get out of here. Alright?” Ranboo nodded nervously. Then, Bad pulled out his communicator, sighed lightly. “Alright, we’re going to be out here soon. This way.” Dodging to the side, Bad started leading them through one corridor after the other, taking quick turns and keeping a steady pace. Blood dripped from his body after a couple more turns. Still, he didn’t seem to be too slowed and instead just kept moving. So, Ranboo decided not to bring it up. Not for the moment. If it became a problem…well, he could carry him if he needed to.
Eventually Bad must have gotten some sort of wifi for his communicator, because immediately he was speaking with the other Manhunters. “I need you guys to do some pickup. I’ll send the coordinates in.” He explained quickly. Then, he clearly sent in the coordinates, and Dream said something in reply.
When they got out of the compound, they immediately were put under fire. Snatching one of his knives, Bad threw it. Across the compound’s courtyard, someone dropped from the wall and slammed into the concrete. Slamming Ranboo and the others down behind a truck of some sort, Bad grunted when a bullet winged him. Looking down, he shook his head. Then, he unfolded his wings.
“All of you stay here.” He handed his communicator to Ranboo. “Dream’ll be here in a second. No matter what happens, I’m fine, I’ll be back soon. Just wait for the others, go with them. Everything will be fine.”
Staring at him, Ranboo watched with wide eyes as Bad unfolded his wings and then charged forwards with a roar. More gunfire rattled off. Instantly, Ranboo tugged Tommy and Tubbo closer to himself and closed his eyes.
Someone’s hand landed on his shoulders. Looking up, he saw Dream leaning over him. “Hey, come on. We gotta go.” Looking around, Dream sucked in a breath. “Let’s get you home.”
Nodding, Ranboo let himself be pulled back up.
+++
The first thing Ranboo saw come through the portal when the Manhunters return was Bad slumped in Sapnap’s arms.
Looking over, Bad met his gaze and grinned. Then, he shot Ranboo a thumbs-up, tipped his head back and pressed a hand to his stomach. Sapnap met Ranboo’s gaze, smiled lightly and rolled his eyes. Then, he kept walking on and hurried towards the hospital.
“Is Bad going to be alright?” Ranboo asked, looking over to George as he dropped down on the couch beside Ant and Dream. With a loud groan, George flopped against Dream and then let his head drop into his lap. Fingers landed in his hair and he closed his eyes.
Sighing, Dream looked over and smiled. “He’ll be fine. We’ve had worse in some Manhunts, you know.” Ranboo swallowed and then looked over at Tubbo and Tommy where they were sleeping in some beanbags under the window. Tail flicking, he pulled his legs up and leaned against the couch. Rubbing his arms, he looked over at the Manhunters. “I promise, Ranboo. Everything’ll be fine. Besides, Bad is tough.”
“True.” Ranboo commented. Then, he took another breath. “I’m tired.”
“Take a nap. We’ll watch over you.” Dream promised. Looking over, Ant nodded. Smiling, Ranboo curled up and closed his eyes.