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Ranboo was the night.

Like a liquid shadow, he was one with the city. He was one with the darkest corners and ally ways of the city. He was living, breathing, darkness.

He was Cosmos.

Black leather boots clicked on the gentle pavement of the 14th's residential buildings as Cosmos vaulted over the gap between two buildings. Almost invisible to the naked eye, Cosmos's only tracible feature was the soft glow of purple from beneath his hood, but somehow the hero on the other side of the street perfectly matched Cosmos's every move.

No words were spoken, between the masked man and the enhanced boy, but somehow their silence said more than any words could. Words held Cosmos back. Peaceful words couldn't stop a bullet.

But that wasn't true, was it?

Cosmos was Ranboo. A different Ranboo, but Ranboo nonetheless. Ranboo didn't know the truth. Cosmos did.

And every night, as the sun began to rise, Cosmos would lose the black leather suit and hood, and Cosmos would forget. Cosmos would forget that he even was Cosmos. Cosmos would become Ranboo, a helpless citizen whose biggest secret was an unruly roommate. He was Ranboo, who lived a relatively normal life. Until the night came again. And he remembered.

Until he became Cosmos again.

The sounds of the city were silent in the ears of Cosmos, every fibre of his being focused on matching the masked hero's every move. He was a servant to the masked man's will, but not an unwilling one. He was a vassal of Dream's every desire, a butler his every wish. And he was proud.

If Cosmos was a knight, Dream was his king. His commander.

Dream's orders were what kept Cosmos aware. Dream awakened Cosmos from the prison of ignorance. Cosmos didn't know why Dream awakened memories inside of him, but he knew of their importance. Hidden memories that his waking mind was unable to face, that were core to Ranboo's history.

Cosmos's existence was not born out of magic, or however Dream controlled him. Cosmos was born out of necessity. Because a mind is a dangerous place, and when you conceal memories from yourself... they manifest in the most unlikely of ways. In Ranboo's case, they resulted in Cosmos.

A semi-aware, sleepwalking android state in which Ranboo was a servant to his master's will, unable to remember the key traits, the key memories that made Ranboo who he was. Every memory that made Ranboo a kind, loving, brotherly figure, every memory that made him empathetic, sensitive and smart, Cosmos had none of them.

He couldn't remember the orphanage. He couldn't remember the feeling of the sun on his face. He couldn't remember the sun at all. All he knew was night air, the sound of his own hushed breath, and the cool, uncaring voice of a man with no face.

And yet, in the back of his mind, there was a flicker of something that couldn't be erased. A tiny flicker of something that could never be repressed by any computer chip.

Love.

For a boy, with golden blonde hair and silver-blue eyes that shone the light of a thousand stars.

Cosmos did not know his name, but Cosmos knew this boy was everything. He would never let anything happen to this boy. The boy with the golden curls.

A friend. Cosmos had never had a friend before. Or... had he? He couldn't remember. Maybe in the daytime, he had friends. That would be nice.

Maybe one day he'd remember what happened in the daytime, and he'd be whole again.

Cosmos knew that Ranboo would return to normal the next day, without remembering a thing that had happened tonight night. Blissfully unaware.

His purple eyes flickered to the side, observing the bridge between the two streets that grew closer with every leap. The masked man motioned with his hand and the tiny earpiece in Cosmos's ear buzzed slightly. "Converge in 900 feet. Prepare for combat, cadet."

The leather-clad enhanced teen only responded with a curt nod, gracefully skidding across a row of shingles, flipping silently onto another rooftop, landing in a rhythmic sprint. Scaling the buildings like a cat, his eyes narrowed as he approached the bridge, calculating every move. And then he stopped.

At the edge of the bridge that reached across the two streets, Cosmos reached behind him, unsheathing a single black dagger from its sheath and preparing himself for battle. The masked man tilted his head, then vaulted forwards onto the roof of the bridge, raising a gun to Cosmos head. Cosmos froze. Dream reached out his other hand and motioned him forwards, an open invitation to duel.

Cosmos considered his approach. Losing was not an option. Defeat was out of the question. And so he moved with purpose. He walked forwards, towards the barrel of the gun. He knew, as well as Dream did, that no amount of leather could stop a true lead bullet. He knew that Dream would shoot.

Dream was not afraid to hurt Cosmos. And to learn a lesson? Pain was the greatest motivator.

But Cosmos wasn't scared. He marched forwards towards the barrel of the gun, staring Dream down. Ready for the shot to go off. And it did. the gunshot rang through the air, ripping through the air like a silver rift of death, and Cosmos grinned. The game was on.

He moved imperceptibly quick, teleporting behind the masked man and hooking his arm around his neck, pulling him backwards. The masked man expertly kicked backwards, knocking Cosmos away for only a moment. Regaining his breath, Cosmos flipped his knife in his hand at Dream, tilting his head, mocking his instructor.

Then Cosmos was to the side of Dream, sweeping his arc in swift horizontal movement, catching the shoulder blade of the masked man, quickly ripping through the folds of fabric before he teleported away again. It was a good hit. But not good enough.

"Planning to hit me, or are these all pity shots?" Dream taunted, flicking the tiny cut in his suit. "Didn't even reach the skin. Pity." He brushed his shoulder. "You are supposed to be the best. The best of the best. Maybe I should reconsider your placement, cadet. That vigilante on 15th has been capturing a lot of attention... maybe he'd make a better subject for my experiments."

The boy with the blonde hair. He was talking about the boy with blonde hair.

Cosmos- no, Ranboo, that was his name. Ranboo would never let Dream touch his Tommy.

Ranboo teleported in front of Dream, punching him in the stomach, teleporting to his other side and punching him again across the cheek. The masked man kicked in his direction, but Ranboo was ready. He teleported to the side of Dream's directed blow and caught his leg, twisting and sending Dream tumbling to the ground.

KILL HIM. He wanted to hurt Tommy. Kill him till he's fucking dead.

Ranboo tightened his grip on his knife, teleporting behind Dream and sliding his ruby blade neatly under the hero's throat.

"Very well done... very well done Cosmos..." Dream purred, his voice sickly sweet. "Perfect my boy. Well done, well done indeed."

Ranboo sucked in a breath, the blade tracing Dream's throat, tugging gently at his skin, but not pressing deep enough to break the skin and draw blood. But he wanted to tug the knife and slit his throat in one fatal swoop.

"Now... put down the knife." Dream ordered, and Cosmos felt oddly compelled to do as he ordered, but he paused. Something in him... didn't obey the order.

To protect Tommy. To protect himself.

To free himself from the puppet master's strings.

He tightened his grip on the knife.

"Cosmos..." Dream's voice grew louder and louder inside his head. "You know what I do to androids who don't behave. I restart them. Disassemble them. Make sure... glitches don't happen again. You don't want that, do you? Well, if you let me go, I won't touch your motherboard."

Ranboo froze.

All his progress, all of these thoughts- gone. Forever. Memory bank erased. And Tommy. He might forget Tommy.

He couldn't risk it.

He surrendered to Dream's control.

The knife clattered to the ground, and Dream stepped forwards, turning to face Cosmos. "Good." He lifted up a gloved hand to Cosmos. "You did perfectly, cadet. When you next wake, I will administer your orders via your brain chip. You will remember none of these traitorous thoughts. You will be my perfect soldier." He paused, tilting his head. "Oh, and cadet?"

He leaned forwards, whispering in Ranboo's ear. "Your first mistake was trusting I'd keep to my word."

SYSTEM DEACTIVATED