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Usually, death is something people need to worry about. Don't go here, you'll die, don't eat that, you'll die, don't get stabbed, you'll die. It's generally very boring and limiting.
But not for Tubbo or his friends. Not since they were little kids.
They'd always been wild and careless, all of them. Tommy had a tendency to jump off cliffs and floating islands when he was learning to glide, Ranboo constantly teleported into places they were definitely not supposed to be in and Tubbo had a habit of eating just about every plant he came across without a second thought.
So needless to say, they constantly drove everyone up the wall. Phil was almost hyperventilating with worry anytime he lost track of them.
The one person who wasn't worried at all was the one that gave them the gift of immortality in the first place, the goddess of Death herself. Right before they died, they'd black out and wake up in limbo, Kristin would plop in to say hi and send them right back. It made the idea of dying nothing more than an inconvenience, a couple real-life seconds of being out as opposed to the end of everything.
This did not make Phil any less worried for the kid’s personal safety, even after more than a decade of proof that they really couldn't die. But it wasn't like they were going to stop testing their lives through their silly games of ‘fuck around and find out what's another way we can die’. What else were they supposed to do? Not take advantage of the literal gift of immortality? As if.
So, current test: Do people, specifically Ranboo, make good long-distance throwing weapons?
Not that Tubbo was aware there was a test currently going on. He was just relaxing in a field, half cloud gazing, half making a sloppy flower crown from the plants around him.
So it was a bit of a surprise to see a figure flying at him from the sky at top speed. Well not exactly at him, Ranboo landed headfirst about two feet away with a sickening crack that told Tubbo exactly what happened to his neck.
Ranboo only stayed down for a couple of seconds before his head righted itself into the correct angle and they sat up, spitting out dirt and grass. He turned around and shouted at the sky: ”You missed!”
“Want a flower crown?” Tubbo offered, completely unfazed.
“Sure.” Ranboo took the circle of flowers and carefully placed it on their head. At that point, Tommy had managed to float down to them.
“Did you die?” he asked. Ranboo nodded.
“Broke my neck. Good news though - Kristin said that if you actually aimed correctly it would work.”
“Care to fill me in?” Tubbo asked.
“Well,” Tommy began, with quite a self satisfied face, “we thought that, you know, we won't always have weapons on hand. And at that point, if we got into a fight, we're pretty fucked! So of course, that begs the question, what else can be used as a weapon? So we just thought of throwing each other! And as you just heard, it would work!”
Tubbo pursed his lips. There was a flaw somewhere in that plan. Would Tommy, or really any of them, have enough strength for that? He doubted it. But Ranboo did just die after all, so he must've gotten that speed somehow.
“It would work if you could actually aim,” Ranboo noted. He was currently trying to rake grass out of his hair while trying to keep the flower crown in place.
“Hey, how about you try throwing your twig of a friend from fifty metres up in the air and see how well you aim! I'd say I did pretty good!”
Oh! That was the issue.
“It wouldn't work. I can't get high up enough that fast if we're fighting somebody and you can't fly,” Tubbo said. Tommy stared at him.
“Shit.”
Tubbo shrugged. “I’m not saying it’s not a good plan, it just needs some shaping.”
Tommy raised his eyebrows. Ranboo picked a leaf from their hair. They both looked at Tubbo, who just smiled.
“Oh shit,” Tommy said. “He’s got that ‘I have a plan’ smile on his face.”
“Enlighten us,” Ranboo added.
“Gladly,” said Tubbo. “So, this is what I was thinking…”
-----
“I’m never fucking listening to Tubbo again,” Tommy muttered.
“Don’t move, I’m trying to adjust this.” Tubbo held a rope with one pair of arms and a wooden lever with another. Ranboo was holding back the bucket of the catapult to stop it from launching the payload - in this case, Tommy - into the air before the right time. “I’ve never launched anything bigger than a coconut from this thing. I gotta make sure it’s up to speed for something your size.”
Tommy blew out all the air from his lungs in a dramatic huff. “Great. Just great!”
Ranboo rolled their eyes. “Oh, come on. At least you have your wings. Imagine what it’s like to be dropped from the sky when you can’t fly.”
“He can’t fly either,” Tubbo noted. “I mean, he’s not allowed to. That would mess up the experiment, remember?”
“My wings are glued to my back. Metaphorically speaking, of course.” Tommy patted the side of the bucket with his hand like the flank of a horse. “I’ll just let this bad boy shoot me through the air. Gracefully as a winged cannonball.”
“Perfect. Now, just hold on - actually, don’t do that - just get ready to fly!”
Ranboo seemed more interested in the complicated wooden construction than Tommy sitting inside it. “Why do you just have a giant catapult lying around, anyway?”
“I’m the inventor of the group, aren’t I?” Tubbo gave the rope one final pull with all four of his arms. “I was trying to make this thing work with redstone some time ago. It was just a fun project, nothing too big.”
“Stop blabbering and get me in the air,” Tommy groaned at the two of them. “My leg is going numb, I’m sitting weirdly.”
“Your wish is my command!” Tubbo wiped down his palms on his pants and took one last deep breath. “Enjoy the journey, dude.”
And with that, he gave the big lever a firm yank.
The wood groaned and moaned as the bucket flew up with Tommy inside it, and for a moment it seemed like everything would go as they had planned. But the knot Tubbo had made in the rope was not strong enough after all. A piece of wood slipped out of its socket and the entire structure dipped to one side with a loud crunch. And the bucket that was supposed to send Tommy flying over a nearby meadow instead shot him right at a small floating island nearby.
It all happened way too fast for Tommy to react to any of it. Tubbo could see him trying to open his wings mid-flight, but he could not even slow down his flight before slamming into the rocks with a nasty crunch. His limp body fell to the ground and stayed there as an unmoving lump.
“Oh crap,” Ranboo sighed. He turned to Tubbo with one eyebrow raised. “So much for your genius invention.”
“Oh, shut up.” Tubbo was already jogging towards where Tommy was lying motionless, rolling his eyes at Ranboo even though they couldn’t possibly see his face. “It’s been sitting around gathering dust for a while. You never know with old tech like that.”
“When did you build it again, two months ago?”
Tubbo was about to reply something snappy, but he did not get the chance. Ranboo disappeared with a sound of a hollow poof and reappeared next to Tommy.
Tubbo expected them to help Tommy back on his feet, but instead they just stared at him, crouching down next to his lifeless body. Tubbo could see them giving Tommy a little nudge, then a bit bigger one. Then grabbing his shoulders and shaking him.
“What is it?” Tubbo finally reached Ranboo, leaning his hands against his knees, trying to catch his breath. “Why isn’t he moving?”
“You - you should probably stay back.” Ranboo’s voice was unusually serious. Their face was pale - an odd sight on the face of an enderian, the deep purple drained into an ashy grey. “I don’t think you want to see this.”
“Don’t talk like that, you’re freaking me out.” Tubbo took another step towards Tommy’s unmoving body, and then -
Then he understood.
“No. No way.” His head snapped towards Ranboo and then back to Tommy, panic crawling up his back and filling him with tension. “Tommy? Tommy, wake up. You’re scaring us. This isn’t funny.”
“Maybe he’s still there?” Ranboo asked with an uncertain voice. “Maybe he’s having a really deep conversation with Kristin and doesn’t wanna come back yet.”
Tubbo nodded, but there was a pit of fear in his stomach. Time moved differently in limbo; even hours there would be minutes at most in the real world. And Tommy had been out of it for at least a minute already.
Still, they waited, for a few nervous moments without being able to take their eyes off Tommy. They had seen each others’ dead bodies plenty of times before, but this felt different. There was a weight hanging over them, a sudden, frightening realness that they had not felt before.
“Do you think one of us should go after him?” Ranboo asked with a shaky voice.
“After him?” Tubbo glanced at Ranboo.” You mean…”
“Yeah.” Ranboo pulled a finger across his throat. “You know. To see what’s going on on the other side.”
Tubbo thought about it. They had done it before; if they all died at the same time, they would end up in the limbo together. He bit his lip and looked back at Tommy’s body on the ground.
“Are you sure it’s a good idea to risk it?” he asked. “I mean, if Tommy’s not back yet, who's to say the next person to go in won't get stuck too?”
Ranboo didn't answer.
“What else can we do?” they asked instead. Tubbo crossed his arms and blew air out of his nose.
“Alright,” he said, with newfound determination in his face, “I'm going in. You stay here and make sure nothing else happens. Actually, go get Phil.”
“What!?” Ranboo yelped. “We'll get in so much trouble if Phil finds out about this!”
“Correction: I'll get in trouble. You and Tommy will both be fine since you didn't die and he didn't know something would go wrong.” Tubbo said. Ranboo looked at him with a pained expression.
“That doesn't make it better,” they argued. “Especially since Phil said that today of all days we shouldn't do anything stupid!”
Tubbo looked surprised.
“He did?”
“Yes? In the morning during breakfast. Something about a friend of his coming over, but the point is we shouldn't have done this in the first place!”
Tubbo had been too busy having a kicking fight with Tommy to notice Phil saying anything during breakfast. Oh well.
“Do you have a better idea? We've already done it.”
Ranboo had several ideas he would consider better, but they didn't voice any. They just sighed and teleported back to the fallen catapult. It took a bit of force, but eventually, the lever snapped off and they teleported back.
“What's that?” Tubbo asked when they appeared in front of him.
“Well I have to stab you with something to get you to limbo,” Ranboo answered. Tubbo took a breath and nervously side eyed Tommy's body on the ground.
“Alright. Here goes nothing, I guess.”
-----
Limbo had become a familiar sight at this point. The endless sky with no stars, the rolling hills of black grass, the silhouettes of trees just barely visible in the distance.
There was, however, one jarring difference the moment Tubbo opened his eyes.
Kristin was nowhere to be found.
Usually she'd stand directly next to him or hang around within the line of sight, but there was nothing here except the all encompassing black.
“Kristin!?” Tubbo called out.
“Tubbo!” came an answer, but in a voice that definitely did not belong to the goddess. Instead, Tubbo saw a different winged person between the dark hills.
“Tommy!” he called, and indeed, it only took a couple of seconds for Tommy to sprint over and stop right in front of him. He looked out of breath and his eyes were noticeably twitching.
“What the- please tell me Ranboo's not around here too.” Tommy grabbed Tubbo around the shoulders. Tubbo could feel him shaking.
“No, no I left him in the overworld to go look for Phil. What are you still doing here? Where's Kristin?”
“That's the fucking issue! She's supposed to be like omney-present or something, but for some damn reason she's not-”
“Omnipresent,” Tubbo corrected out of habit.
“-so now we're effectively stuck here!” Tommy let go of Tubbo in favor of throwing his arms in the air. He looked around their surroundings, but didn't find what he was searching for. He let out a puff of air through his teeth.
Tubbo wasn't really sure what to do with Tommy going borderline feral from spending too much time in limbo. He knew that it could happen, mortal souls weren't built for spending this much time here. Tommy would go back to normal right after they returned to the overworld, luckily, but that was the issue.
How the hell were they supposed to get back to the overworld?
“Hey, I'm sure Phil will figure something out. He's like acquainted with Kristin and stuff, we just have to wait for Ranboo to go get him,” Tubbo said carefully.
“You would not believe the amount of waiting I've done,” Tommy replied as he spread out his hands and wings and fell backwards on the grass. “It gets mind numbingly boring in here with nobody around.”
Tubbo sat down next to him.
“Well ‘s why I came here. I'm not gonna let you go crazy on your own,” he said in an attempt to lighten the mood. Tommy chuckled, so he counted it as a successful attempt.
“I just hope whatever's going on on the other side will help.”
-----
Ranboo was not stressed out. Seriously! Definitely not! Nu uh! Just- mildly, perhaps, slightly thrown off. But nothing past that. No way. Not at all. It wasn't like every moment that passed by meant hours more that his friends spent in limbo with no way to get out!
He had already visited the Pub to see if Phil was there, but he wasn't, so now Ranboo was headed to Phil's house. They were also mentally yelling at themself for not checking there first and saving time.
He didn't knock, since there wasn't time for that, instead he just opened the door and called out: “Phil?!”
The calling wasn't necessary, since Phil was right across from the door, enjoying a smoking cup of tea. At least he had been until Ranboo burst in.
“Phil!” they blurted, out of breath. “Phil, it's Tommy and Tubbo. They're in trouble.”
Phil was on his feet in a matter of seconds. Tommy and Tubbo being in trouble was nothing new - in fact, trouble was usually their default state - but something in Ranboo’s frantic voice and panicked expression told him that this was something more than just their usual mishaps. “What kind of trouble? What happened?”
“They-” Ranboo took a deep breath. Oh gods, they'd really have to say it out loud. “They, you know, died, both of them. And they're not coming back. They're just lying there and I don't know what to do, and… and…”
Their voice faded into confused silence as they saw Phil's face. The worry and alarm were practically melting away, and instead of yelling at Ranboo or doing something equally fitting to a situation where your kids may have permanently died, he fell back into his chair and let out a deep, deep sigh.
“They really had to pick today of all days,” he said, and then: “Kristin?”
The shadows in the room suddenly seemed deeper.
Ranboo watched as something emerged from the shadowed corner behind a bookshelf, like darkness with a form. It grew clearer and clearer until Ranboo could make out the shape of a long dress, the edge of a large hat, a hand reaching out from the folds of fabric…
“Hello, love,” Kristin said, before Ranboo could gather his thoughts enough to ask her how the hell was she in the overworld. “And hello to you too, Ranboo. It's been too long! Where are Tubbo and Tommy?”
Phil cleared his throat, like he hated what he was about to say. “In the limbo, as far as I understand. Waiting for, uh, you.”
Kristin’s eyes flew wide. “Are you serious? How long have they been there?”
“Long enough,” Ranboo cut in. “I ran here as fast as I could, but I didn't find Phil right away, so it's been at least 20 minutes. Maybe a bit less, I don't have a watch-”
He couldn't finish his sentence; Kristin was already gone from the room, vanished back into the shadows before Ranboo got to the word “watch”.
Half a moment later she was back. Tommy stood at her one side, Tubbo at the other.
Tommy took no time to explode at Ranboo, jabbing his finger at their chest. “Fucking finally! What took you so long? Do you have any idea how long we were waiting in there?”
“Don't blame me!” Ranboo pushed Tommy's hand away and took a step back. “It's not my fault that time works weirdly there. How are you two even back here? Weren't your bodies outside? And how is Kristin here in the overworld?”
“Oh,” Kristin smiled, “it's just a little trick of mine. I can… persuade time and space a little bit if I need to. I've been practicing with Phil so that I could at last come visit you all for real. And today we could finally do it!” She beamed like a ray of sunshine, which is not easy when you're wearing a full black outfit and arrived in the room by emerging out of the shadows.
Phil seemed less cheerful. He sent a glaring look at Tommy and Tubbo, who did their best to avoid eye contact. “And you two decided to play with your lives on the one day when Kristin wasn't there to send you back. You're lucky that Ranboo found me as quickly as they did. Who knows how long you would have had to wait there if he didn't.”
“Oh, Phil, don't be so harsh to them.” Kristin wrapped her arms around Tommy and Tubbo in a tight, squashy half-hug. “If I recall correctly, you've had your fair share of experiments too. How many times have I sent you back, exactly?”
“Well, we don't have to talk about that-” Phil began, but it was too late. The crow was out of the bag.
“Wait, what?” Tubbo's eyes widened and a huge grin creeped onto his face. “Phil! You've never mentioned that you’ve been to the Limbo too!”
Tommy joined in, at least equally amazed as Tubbo: “And you always tell us to be more careful! I can't believe this. You're never gonna live this down.”
Phil’s eyes rolled towards the ceiling, but they could all see that he was holding back a smile. “Oh, you've done it now, Kristin. You've ruined my image as the responsible dad. They'll never listen to me again.”
Kristin laughed a warm, heartfelt laugh. “Oh, I'm sure of that. Maybe we could all discuss it over a cup of tea?”
And so they went, into the warm summer evening where stars were just starting to light up the sky, and their chatter and laughter continued long into the night.