This will all be over soon.
Ranboo placed the final bright red package on top of the large stack that sat in the middle of Big Q’s restaurant and stepped back to admire his work. It almost looked like Christmas, but instead of ugly sweaters and scented candles, these gifts were full of gunpowder. Ranboo breathed in the familiar smell. Mr. Soot said that he couldn’t stand it. Not after what he’d done to L’Manberg and especially not after what he said to Tommy. Even the smell of gunpowder on Ranboo’s clothing was enough to cause Mr. Soot to gag. Ranboo had to be sure to clean himself up after this final blow. Soon the van would monopolize the business. Soon he’d have proof that Mr. Soot was a changed man. Soon the voices would die down. All Ranboo needed to do was get rid of the competition.
Ranboo’s heart turned to lead when he heard the familiar voice behind him. He held the detonator close, uncertainty clawing at the lining of his stomach.
“You weren’t supposed to be here.” He said with his back still turned to the door.
“I forgot my jacket.” The boy responded. Ranboo let his fingertips graze over the remote’s button. Whatever was in his head toyed him with visions of what could happen if he pushed it at that very moment.
Everything in Ranboo’s mind screamed at him to press it, but every fiber in his body told him not to. It was like someone was playing a game of tug of war with his body, both sides aggressively trying to gain control, but tearing him at the seams in the process. The world that once appeared black and white had now become a grey abyss and he was lost in it.
Acting without hesitation is the cure to a gelatin bone structure.
Mr. Soot’s voice rang in Ranboo’s ears. He wanted to press the button so badly. The trigger was one flick away. And yet,
Ranboo turned to face him. The voice in his head started shouting at him in refutation, but Ranboo couldn’t make out the words. He was too focused on the tacky comic burger stitched into Tubbo’s uniform.
“It’s not what it looks like. This… it was supposed to be a harmless prank, but…” Ranboo shivered, his body was growing tired. All he wanted to do was blow this place to the ground. Even if it cost both him and Tubbo their lives.
“You’re not yourself.” Tubbo said as he took a step forward. Ranboo took a step back in response and pointed the detonator threateningly at Tubbo, but the boy didn’t seem to be fazed. “This isn’t you.” His voice was nicer than the one shouting in Ranboo’s mind. He sounded so calm and so sure. But Ranboo’s mind recoiled and flashed him a vision of the explosion. It would hit Ranboo first, but his skin was tough and would absorb most of the blow. Tubbo’s skin on the other hand was much softer, as proven in the scars on his arms and in his face.
Why couldn’t he bring himself to look at Tubbo’s face?
The voice spoke, clearer than it had in a while. Panic flooded into Ranboo. He couldn’t tell who was in control anymore. His memories started slipping away like a loose balloon in a severe storm. His surroundings faded in and out with every breath as Ranboo struggled to keep control.
He wasn’t sure where he was or what was happening. Was he at the mansion? What was he holding? Was it Michael’s doll? The one with the blue buttoned-up dress?
The detonator. Right. He was holding a detonator. To what? What was he detonating? Perhaps the garage? The shed?
Someone was speaking to him, but he couldn’t place the voice. Ranboo’s thumb hovered over the button. It felt like the right thing to do.
“Ranboo.” Tubbo’s voice came through. He was close.
Ranboo felt a small tug on the sleeve of his uniform.
Tubbo was standing nearby, cradling the hand that Ranboo held the detonator in. Ranboo could tell that the boy was staring at him, and even though the voice screamed and his whole body withdrew at the thought of looking back, he did.
Tubbo’s gaze gripped tightly to Ranboo’s as if Tubbo believed that it was the only thing that kept Ranboo from falling off the edge of the world. The space around Ranboo froze, and he felt himself come out of his body. All the noise in his head had become muffled; tossed into a glass box and locked in the back of his mind. The once ominous mansion setting melted away and now he and Tubbo were stood in the middle of a snowy landscape with the sun shining down on them. Ranboo watched from the sky as his body place its free hand under Tubbo’s. The small voice screamed at him to claw Tubbo off and activate the redstone, but it was about as powerful as the whispers of a rat. The air around them was almost magical, and reminiscent of something sweet as strawberry. And Ranboo watched as his body simply held Tubbo’s hand.
Ranboo wanted to be that person, but he felt like he was looking at a photograph from another universe. It all seemed so distant.
“Hey, hold on. Don’t stop looking in my eyes.” Ranboo’s stomach rolled and he felt his vision narrow as he was suddenly pulled back into his body. He didn’t even realized that his gaze had shifted, but Tubbo had drawn him back. The boy reached up and held Ranboo’s cheek in the palm of his hand. “Why does it have to be this way? Can’t we be seventeen? Is that so hard to do?” His voice made it sound like such a simple task, but his eyes were welling up with tears, holding the amount of pain a seventeen year old should never have to hold. “If you could just let me in.” Ranboo felt his grip on the detonator loosen and fall into Tubbo’s hand. The voice gave one final cry of defeat, and then disappeared. And suddenly, Ranboo was back under the fluorescent lighting of the burger shop. He was back in his smelly uniform. Back with Tubbo. Suddenly, Ranboo was seventeen again.
“There he is.” Tubbo said with a relieved smile. Ranboo felt a stray tear run down his cheek. It burned into his skin, but Tubbo wiped it away. “Purple was never a good color for you anyway.” Ranboo wasn’t sure what Tubbo meant by that, but he was glad that everything seemed to be ok now.
Then suddenly glass shattered and fire rained down onto Ranboo’s skin. All the noise and static came back in a vengeful blur. Ranboo thought he heard Tubbo screaming at someone, but he couldn’t open his eyes.
“He broke the glass! The aquarium!”
The tiny voices of Ranboo’s particles forced themselves into his ears, feeding him all of the information that he couldn’t see.
“He wasn’t going to do anything! I was handling it!” Ranboo heard Tubbo’s voice yelling on top of all the terrible noise in his mind. Then, he felt that hand, that firm and caring grip, pull him up onto his feet.
“Tubbo, if you leave here without explaining yourself, I’ll make you clean the fryer!”
“Come on Ranboo, let’s go, let’s go.” Tubbo said as he pulled Ranboo along. And the slight giggle in his voice told Ranboo that they weren’t in any real danger. Ranboo allowed Tubbo to lead him through Las Nevadas completely blind and felt a strange sense of joy tear through him as the water droplets flew off his body and Tubbo’s laugh filled the air. He felt something flee from his mind, but like a dream that you couldn’t quite remember, it was gone in an instant. Ranboo didn’t bother searching for it, instead he focused on the present moment. Running somewhere with Tubbo.
Together they bounded across terrain unknown to Ranboo. Eventually they stopped, out of breath and satisfied with their distance. Tubbo propped Ranboo up against something solid and helped wipe the water from his face. Ranboo blinked up at the boy, his vision blurred at first, but finally focusing in on those brilliant blue eyes.
“Are you ok?” Tubbo breathed. Ranboo nodded silently and gave him a small smile. Tubbo rolled his eyes back and heaved a relieved sigh before flopping himself against the large boulder that he’d propped Ranboo against. “Thank the gods.” Ranboo blinked a few more times and began to take in his surroundings. They were sitting at the top of a large hill that looked down on Las Nevadas. The sun was just beginning to set, its fiery rays stretching out over golden sand dunes and silver mountains. That precious scent of summer swam through the air along with the lazy lightning-bugs that flew around them. Ranboo wasn’t quite sure what they were doing here. He couldn’t exactly remember why he was drenched in water or why it felt like his head was about to burst, but he was with Tubbo, so he assumed that everything was ok.
Then Tubbo folded his hand into Ranboo’s.
“Never scare me like that again.” He said. Ranboo turned to the boy who was looking at him with a stern expression. Ranboo wasn’t sure what Tubbo meant by that, but he gave him a reassuring nod all the same. The worry in Tubbo’s eyes didn’t vanish completely, but he seemed content with the response, turning to rest his head against Ranboo’s shoulder.
