Chapter Text
Ranboo is being held tightly by the back of his throat, everything hurts .
He was stuck in that prison cell, they took the opportunity to be let out of a cage he wanted to be trapped in.
That was a mistake.
A horrible, horrible mistake.
Now he’s here, being used as a bargaining opportunity.
Everything around him is loud , so very loud .
Sam has threatened Micheal, he says he has Micheal.
Ranboo can’t lose Micheal, that’d crush him and Tubbo. That’d hurt Micheal, he can’t lose Micheal, his child, his son, one of the most important parts of his life. That’s not even to mention that it’d fracture him and Tubbo’s already strained relationship.
So, he complies.
He removes his armor as he’s been told, leaving him in his yellow sweater he had started wearing in Snowchester, Tubbo had made it for him.
There’s a lot of yelling, he can hear Techno’s voice over it all.
“WHAT!? HEHEH!? WHAT DO YOU HAVE AGAINST RANBOO!? WHAT DID HE DO TO YOU?”
“He didn’t do anything, he’s just a hostage.”
“ TECHNO, C’MON! LET’S GET OUT OF HERE! ” Dream’s voice rings out over it all, it’s echoey, crunchy, and oh so very unnatural .
Ranboo makes their choice, he discreetly throws a photo of Micheal to Techno’s hooves, he points and nods and even pushes it closer with his tail, he can die, he’ll be fine! He’ll just- He’ll be fine as a ghost…
“Tell Dream to come here, or I’ll kill him!”
“DREAM DOESN’T CARE, I CARE-“
Then, it happens.
Sam’s netherite sword is plunged through Ranboo’s stomach. It breaks its way through his spine, then it punctures their stomach and forces its way through and out so he can see it. He can see the deep red now covered in a neon purple that drips its way down, it seeps into his sweater, staining the sunny yellow with that obnoxiously bright purple. After Ranboo is let to stare at it, take it in, it’s pulled out.
Ranboo falls to the ground, their long, lanky form, falling with an audible whoosh and an even louder thump as he hits the ground.
Ranboo’s vision starts to blur, colors dance around him, greens, and pinks, and glowy enchanted purples, their heartbeat slows, his hearing blurs and blends until it’s just an unending, ear piercing screech. Everything hurts, it all hurts too much.
He blacks out and he’s somewhere else.
——
There’s a long tunnel, it’s colorful, like watercolor, it reminds him of a children’s fun tunnel. But, it almost looks like paper, it crinkles as he crawls through it. It almost pulses, as if they were moving through a far bigger creature’s insides, but it’s not wet at all. In fact, it’s incredibly dry. Ranboo makes his way through the tunnel, at the end he can see an almost menacing, bright, over saturated bright blue.
Despite themselves, he goes through it and falls .
They fall for what feels like hours through that blue.
That disgusting, horrifying, gaudy blue.
Eventually though, he wakes up.
——
He’s in his bed, his bed at Techno and Phil’s house.
But- He should be dead!
A ghost!
Was it a dream?
Was that all a dream?
He throws his blanket off and looks at his sweater.
There’s a hole through it, a neon purple blooms around the tear.
He throws it off and looks at his stomach, there’s a scar. A very deep, dark purple scar. It has specks of red and green, but it’s still mostly purple. That bright, neon purple stains his black and white skin.
Him and his stupid fucking memory issues.
So, he did die.
But he’s… alive.
He still has one more life .
Ranboo just stands there in shock for a moment, processing everything. His stomach and back still hurt a lot, it’s not stabbing , but achy. Very very achy. But after what they just went through? He can handle some aches.
They don’t really want to stay here, he’s going to leave.
He grabs a puffy, deep maroon sweater, he throws it on. It gives a sense of forced, unnatural comfort, like an unwarranted hug. Ranboo snatches their large, fur lined, Antarctic Empire cape to keep himself warm. They grab his gear from the chest next to the bed.
Ranboo runs out of the cottage and into the snow. Wind bats at his face and snowflakes attack them, he’s so tired, but they’ve just woken up, and he refuses to stay. They run through the snow, cold bites at his ears, his paws burn in the cold, their tail lashes back and forth as he runs.
Eventually, they make it to the Nether Portal.
He runs in, not even sparing themselves from the sudden heat and nausea, he continues to run. It reminds him of Micheal and Techno, they’re piglins, they’re used to this heat.
It takes forever, but eventually they’re out and start to run through the terrain.
Sharp, scratchy grass scars his ankles as he runs.
But they do not stop.
Ranboo continues running, eventually, the air gets cold again, and snowflakes start to drift in the air. He runs throughout the spruce planks of Snowchester and to the mansion. They knock frantically on the door, he just wants to be home with his husband and child, or… At least their husband.
The door opens, Tubbo is stood in the doorway, he’s tired.
He’s dressed in what looks to be one of Ranboo’s tee shirts, it’s way too big for him. He has on some plaid pajama pants that fall to his hooves, he’d probably be wearing socks if not for his hooves.
“Boo?”
He asks sleepily, yawning at the end of it.
And that’s… That’s when everything hits Ranboo.
Everything that’s happened falls onto their shoulders.
The pain of dying, the turning of the sword in his chest, the fall to the ground, the crawl through the guts of something , the long run, and the frantic panic leaking through the back of their mind.
Ranboo just… Collapses onto Tubbo.