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Vwoop.
Vwoop.
Vwoooooop-
There were many Enderman outside, Techno muses, turning to the window.
Vwoop-
Technoblade was not expecting to see Ranboo's shadow outside at, what, 1 am? Whatever. He wasn't expecting the hybrid's tall figure outside, and he definitely was not expecting it to pick up random grass blocks and place them down randomly.
Ranboo had a coat on, one that Phil had given him but he never used, which Technoblade found odd. He never wore that cape. And why was Ranboo outside, anyway?
Walking over to the other side of the room, Techno shoves Phil awake. "Hey. Wake up. Somethin' is wrong with Ranboo."
Phil groans, wings shuffling. "What time is it?"
"Time is false, Philza, you know this." Technoblade pauses. "But it's, like, 1 am if you need to know that badly."
Phil hums. "You should be sleeping."
"So should you, but I don't see you doin' that," Techno shoots back, frowning. "Now come on, it's a lovely night to go outside."
"I'm getting up, I'm getting up.." Phil grumbles, but he does get up, and Technoblade goes back to the window. "What's he doing?"
"Uh." Techno looks out the window again. "He's like- placin' blocks? Grass ones? Around the place, he's also wearin' that cape you gave 'im."
"Huh." Phil pauses, shrugging on his cape. "Weird."
"Yeah, that's what I thought!" Techno exclaims, putting his book away. "It's really weird. It's also snowin' slightly, but he doesn't seem to be bothered. Can't see his face, but he doesn't seem to be, like, in pain or anythin'-"
"Techno, you're loud and you're talking at me," Phil says quietly, and the piglin stops, pouting. "Don't look at me like that, you're the one who just woke me up to go check on our obscure neighbour."
"Touché," Techno grunts, before tilting back on his heels. "Come oonnn!"
"Alright, alright," Phil chuckles, and Techno bounces, opening the door to the outside, where Ranboo's shadow was still bobbing around. "Come on, let's go."
"Ranboo!" Technoblade pants, catching up to the hybrid. "Are you alright?"
The teenager is completely stationary, the cape slipping off one of his shoulders. His eyes are squeezed shut. He looks like he's in pain, but his face is facing the ground. Snow is falling around his body.
With a thump, the dark-blue cape falls to the ground, and Ranboo doesn't move. He's eerily still.
"There you are," Techno's eyebrows furrow. What was happening? He can feel Phil behind him, ready to step in if need be. "Why did you run off?"
Didn't he understand? It was snowing, and Techno and Phil weren't going to hurt him, so why did he run? The fear in his red-green eyes had blazed so bright, and Ranboo had seemed genuinely fearful before he'd run off.
"We've been lookin' for you everywhere!" Techno frowns, reaching out a hand. Ranboo wasn't moving, but he at least wasn't running away. That was good. The only sign of life on his student was his tail, which was twitching. "Don't you know how dangerous it is for a kid like you to be alone out here?"
Ranboo tilted his head, a small sound emitting from his mouth, a small vwoop. He's still staring at the ground, and it's honestly quite unsettling. He mutters something under his breath, and his hand's shaking.
"Ranboo, mate, are you okay? Is there something wrong?" Phil steps in, next to his side. "Can we help?"
The hybrid vwoops, hand twitching. His entire body is shaking, and his hands curl into fists, claws scraping along palms. Purple blood falls to the ground, and as the scent of jasmine fills the air, Techno looks down. "Ranboo, why are you- What're you doin'?"
"Ranboo?"
One hand rises to Ranboo's face, and it wipes his eyes, motions short and jerky. His other hand twitches, and as he finally raises his eyes, an axe materialises in his hand. Liquid amethyst eyes glow, and Techno can tell things are very, very wrong.
Techno steps back, and it's a good thing he does, because Ranboo's axe swings through the place he was just in. "What-"
Ranboo tilts his head, and smiles, purple eyes glittering in the snow. The hybrid's way he held himself was more sure, now, steadier, more the stance of a fighter than a young teenager who didn't know how to fight.
"Techno!" Phil shouts from the side, his sword materialising. "Ranboo, what the fuck?"
Barely glancing towards Phil, Ranboo vwoops, and Techno has only the sound of something teleporting behind him to warn him. He ducks, and an axe swings over his head. The warrior's axe materialises, and he brings it up just in time to block Ranboo's next strike.
"Ranboo, Ranboo, kid, what are you doin'," Techno steps back. Ranboo tilts his head, circling his mentor, never taking his eyes off the pinkette. "Why are you attackin' me?!"
With a grin, purple-eyed Ranboo shrugs. "Well, last time I did so, you were pretty fun." And that was definitely not Ranboo's voice. "Which timeline are we in?"
Phil finally unfreezes, and rushes forward. "Ranboo, what are you doing?"
Ranboo turns around to look at Phil, and smiles, a glint in his eyes. "Angel. Hello."
Technoblade takes the distraction and darts forward, going for Ranboo's head. If he could knock him out, maybe, he'd stop fighting and explain what was going on, why he was turning on them, what was happening.
"Ranboo, we're your friends," Phil continues, frowning, sword at the ready. "We took you in, we housed you, we helped you, what are you doing?"
Techno takes the shot, and Ranboo turns around as he hears the warrior sprinting towards him. Quickly, Ender particles jump from his right hand to his left hand, and his axe is in his left hand instead of his right.
The axe comes up and blocks the hit, and Ranboo sidesteps Phil's strike, a second axe materialising in his right hand. Phil and Techno regroup behind him, but Ranboo gives them no chance to recover, and bounds forward, blocking Phil's strike with a shield and swinging for Techno.
Techno blocks it, and swings in return. Ranboo's eyes widen, and he teleports back, axes crossed. "Now we're talking!"
His shoulders tensing, Techno growls. How dare Ranboo do this? His purple eyes blink back at him, and it doesn't occur strange that Ranboo, who would usually hate eye contact, was looking at him.
Techno had trained him, had helped him, had listened to him, and this was what Ranboo was doing in return? "Didn't you say you were on the side of people, Ranboo? This isn't that." He snarls.
Ranboo's eyes narrow, and he smiles that eerily creepy smile. "Oh, I see. Interesting." He hums, and dashes forward. "Phil."
"Yeah, mate?" Phil then shakes himself. "Wait, no. I'm not listening to you, Ranboo."
"Philza. Angel of Death. Crowfather." Ranboo sites, as if reading from a page. "Take a nice little trip for me, will you?"
"I'm-" And Phil gets cut off as he disappears with a burst of purple particles. Ranboo chuckles, as he ducks Techno's swing.
"What the hell are you doing, Ranboo?" Technoblade continues, anger in his low voice. "Why are you doing this?"
"You asked me that last time," Ranboo grins, blocking Techno's strike, stepping back before aiming at Techno's shoulder. "You're being marginally more fun, though."
"Was this whole thing an act, Ranboo? You never talk like this," Techno seethes, and as Ranboo ducks, his plait flys upwards, and in place of his head, the hair is cut off.
Ranboo steps back, surprised, before he sighs. "You haven't figured it out yet. He's going to be really sad, he loved that."
Memories flash through Techno's head- of braiding his hair the day before. "Why're you referrin' to yourself in third person? Where's Phil?"
"Oh." Ranboo's eyes narrow, and the purple blinks for a second, fluttering between red and green and purple. "You really don't know. You know, I took for you to be more observant. He's not here."
"What did you do to Phil?" Techno continues, on the enslaught. The axes are knocked out of Ranboo's hands, who smiles, going on the defensive. "Why are you doin' this? Who's not here?"
Hands in his pockets, Ranboo teleports strike by strike. "Oh-" Swish. "You should know by now. Think. How have I acted compared to how Ranboo has acted?"
Another memory runs through Techno's head.
(Have you ever seen me walking around? My eyes would be purple, and I wouldn't really...)
A pause. "Are you really Ranboo?" Techno asks slowly, and the creature grins, shaking his head. "You're not."
"No, I'm not," Duke agrees, and they bound forward, taking advantage of Techno's momentary confusion to attack, grabbing Techno's shoulders and lunging at him, opening his mouth.
Techno brings his axe handle up to block the creature's bite, and it closes around the wooden handle.
An arrow hurtles from the trees, and Ranboo's tail flicks it out of the air. Technoblade recognised the arrow, and yells- "Phil, it's okay! I can handle this, this isn't Ranboo."
Those words encompassed so much, so much, that Techno couldn't fit in those words alone, but Phil seemed to get the message, although he pauses, coming out of the trees, sword at the ready.
"Ranboo." Techno pauses. What would get through to him? "Wake up, kid. You've got this."
Ranboo's eyes flickered between the creature's and the red and green that Techno knew so well. The brief glimpse of those eyes showed fear, anger, relief, and so much more, but they flickered so briefly that he couldn't catch much.
"You can fight it!" Techno encourages, and Ranboo's body shivers, his hands slackening on Techno's shoulders. "I know you're in there somewhere, kid, come back to me, Ranboo. Come back to me, you're gonna be okay."
"Wake up, Ranboo."
wake up
wake up
wake up wake up wake up waKE UP-
Purple eyes water, tears spilling over, and the eyes finally settle on a colour. Red and green eyes settle on confusion, and Ranboo lets out a sob, drawing his hands back, unclamping his teeth from the axe handle.
He opens his mouth, but no sound comes out, and he backs away, hands shaking. Ranboo's eyes dart from side to side- From Philza, who's face is concerned and nervous, and from a slightly beat-up Techno, who's getting up.
His eyes zero in on the axes on the floor of the forest, and they flick back up to Techno, who's slowly walking towards him, hand out as if Ranboo were a cornered animal. Finally, finally, his mouth works.
"I- I-" Ranboo stutters out, before backing up against a tree, shaking. His lips are trembling, and his eyes are watering, and as Techno reaches towards him, he raises his arms in front of his head as he flinches. "I-I'm s-sorry, I- Did I- What-"
"Are you alright, kid?" Is what comes out of Techno's mouth, and Ranboo chokes on his sob, shaking his head violently. "We'll talk bout that later, are you okay?"
Phil sighs, before putting away his sword and coming forward. Ranboo's eyes flick to him, eyes filled to the brim with fear, fear of being abandoned, friends, family, gone- "Hey mate, welcome back."
Ranboo slides down the tree, body limp as he pulls his knees to his chest. "I- I didn't- what did- Are you- I-I I- I didn't-" He pants out, and his breath gets quicker. "I'm s-sorry, I- What- I-"
"It's alright, Ranboo," Techno murmurs softly, kneeling down and placing a hand on his student's shoulder. "You're alright. It's okay, they didn't hurt us too badly, we're alright."
Squeezing his eyes shut, Ranboo sobs, and hugs himself. "I didn't mean to, it wasn't me- I- please, don't-"
"Ranboo." Technoblade says firmly, and Ranboo stops, head snapping up to meet Techno's eyes. "It's alright. We're okay, we know that wasn't you, just breathe, kid."
Slowly, as if not to startle him, Technoblade envelops Ranboo in a hug, and the teenager grabs his cape, looking over his mentor. "I'm so sorry, I'm sorry," He cries. "I didn't- Are you okay?"
"I'm fine, Ranboo." Techno's gruff voice came out a little strained. "It's okay."
Ranboo sobs into his cape, and hugs Techno back.
They'd talk about this later, of course, but for now, the family could just hold each other a bit longer.