Chapter Text
Ranboo yanked the black mask away from his mouth and heaved a very heavy breath as he pushed himself up from the rubble below him. You know, he was supposed to be on a three-day-long trip with his AP biology class to some big science and technology center in D.C., one run by some big shot named Phil Something-Or-Other, but apparently someone decided that locking him in the arachnid exhibit and collapsing the ceiling would make for a better attraction than some spider from Afghanistan.
But, the teen digresses. Stranger things have happened to him. He thinks.
He shoved the glass away from him before struggling to pull his legs under him and stand. The explosion came outta nowhere and sent him into a huge wall of glass spider cases. Why the cases of supposedly extremely dangerous spiders were made of glass, Ranboo had no idea. Why there was an explosion in the building near said glass spider cases, he would rather keep that to the security guards and that Phil guy.
Ranboo used a counter to pull himself upwards and hobble over to the barely-collapsed doorway. He could hear screams and yells from outside, two voices he actually recognized, but his hearing was shot and it all mixed in with the ringing in his ears and the massive headache he had. Ranboo made his way to the door, clutching his hand close to his chest as it began to feel numb.
His vision started to go blurry just as the doorway was unblocked and two large people ran in followed by two much smaller teens. Ranboo fell into the arms of the guy with the pink hair before falling completely unconscious.
~~
Colors filled his mind and wind rushed past his body. He dared not open his eyes for fear of watching the ground he was obviously gunning towards hit him.
Red and green.
Black and white.
Streaks and spirals zipped through his brain as the wind stopped and he felt his feet land on something.
A sharp stinging ran from his right hand up his arm and through his whole body before he felt nothing once again.
Like nothing had ever happened.
~~
When Ranboo came to, his entire body was numb and sore. He was sitting upright in the back of an ambulance just outside of the science center.
“Hey, Ran? You up?” The voice next to him could only be one person.
“Yeah, Tubbs, I’m good,” Ranboo held a hand to his aching temple. He could feel the bandages lining his palm and wrist, “What happened?”
“A bomb went off in the hallway by the exhibit. None of us were hurt but apparently something happened to you,” Tubbo pulled Ranboo’s hand down from his head, “Mr Watson wants to talk to you when we get back to the hotel. Says it’s important.”
“Can’t he just talk to me here?” Tubbo pursed his lips and nodded his head towards the seven news vans and reporters outside the police barricade, almost all of the cameras pointing at him or the giant hole in the science center, “Ah. I see. How unfortunate.”
“Yep. By the way, what were you doing in the spider thing anyway? I thought you hated those things with a passion. Always call them whores before throwing your whole ass backpack at them.”
“Okay, I do not do that all the time-“
“Yes you do, it was hilarious the first time, but…”
“But what?”
“You do know my aunt was a licensed therapist, right?”
“Oh my god,” Ranboo rolled his eyes and slowly stood up from the ambulance.
“I’m serious!” Tubbo gave chase after the taller teen, taking hops and longer strides to catch up to his behemoth of a friend.
“Listen, we’ll talk later, okay? I just want to get back to the hotel and talk to whoever Mr Watson is, and then go home, hopefully,” Ranboo put his hand on Tubbo’s shoulder, “You don’t have to worry about me, okay? I’ve done this on my own for long enough.”
Tubbo nodded, “Oh… okay. We’ll talk later then.”
“Great.”
The two approached the rest of their class, the students’ faces being washed over with relief at Ranboo’s okay status.
“Okay, now I know that none of you are leaving my sight next time,” Niki, their teacher, started before turning to the teen who stood nearly two feet above her, “Of course this isn’t your fault, Ranboo, that explosion came out of nowhere.”
“I get it, Miss Niki, not my fault and I shouldn’t blame myself for the actions of others,” he gave her a small smile. Without the mask, it was easier to give reassurance, but all of them had told him that it was unnecessary.
“Miss Niki?” A very beefed out man strolled over to the teacher and her class. With both of their heads filled with pink hair, one could assume this guy and the teacher were siblings or at least very coordinated friends, “I am Agent Technoblade, here to escort your class back to the hotel Mr Watson has volunteered to keep you at until his plane can be scheduled to take you all home.”
“Do we really have to go home, though?” One of Ranboo’s friends, Tommy, said, “This is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.”
“Tommy, I think it’s best to leave it all to the police and actual professionals,” Niki turned to her student, shooting him a very nasty look that Agent Technoblade couldn’t see. The teen shut up instantly.
Niki was the only person who could control Tommy like that, considering she once scared him by using a knitting needle to threaten some guy who was harassing one of the girls in the class last year. Since that trip, Tommy was scared to get on Niki’s bad side and even dedicated his studies to keep an A in her class at all times to not “invoke the wrath of The Needle”.
“Once we gather your statements at the hotel…” the agent dragged out the ‘s’ in statements with a small nod at Ranboo. The teen knew what the agent meant, giving him an acknowledging look, “…we will set you all free for the night to your rooms and leave first thing tomorrow morning,”
“Thank you so much, sir,” Niki shook his hand, “Just tell us where we need to go.”
He directed them to a pair of black cars at the end of the lot, each one with a driver standing in front of it. Ranboo took the left one with Niki, Punz, Eret, and Drista, claiming that Jack could handle Tommy, Purpled, and Tubbo.
He totally did not notice how annoyed Jack looked or how Tommy was coughing up his entire lung with how hard he was laughing.
~~
“So,” Phil Watson leaned back in his chair, “Tell me about what happened before and after the explosion.”
Ranboo looked at Mr Watson again. The guy looked like Tommy, with the blonde hair and blue eyes, but also resembled Wilbur with his strong jaw and face shape. He hated how eerily similar the three were.
“I don’t know what you want me to say, sir,” Ranboo linked and unlinked his fingers, feeling uneasy under both Mr Watson’s and Technoblade’s stares. Oh and the guns on their belts? That’s kind of anxiety inducing, don’t you think, “I walked into the room, the door locked behind me, the explosion went off, I blacked out, woke up, then was found before blacking out again.”
“And yet you suffered barely any burns,” Mr Watson sighed, “From how close the bomb was to your relative position, we could tell you would have gone through at least second degree burns with an explosion of that size.”
Ranboo chuckled, “I guess I am just very lucky or have some sort of main character powers because I barely felt it.”
“Well, you weren’t extremely hurt either,” Mr Watson stood back up, “I’ll have to see you back at the lab for an official physical statement and just to make sure everything is in order before your flight back. Alright?”
“Understood, sir.”
The man turned back, “Oh, and please just call me Phil. All of those honorifics make me feel old.”
“As if you aren’t,” Agent Technoblade muttered.
“I will feed you to the bird eating tarantula.”
~~
Ranboo ran his hand across the bandage on his wrist one more time to secure it. Technoblade and Mr Watson had left just a few hours ago, leaving Ranboo in his room to think over everything that had happened that day. And, of course, the kid would have to talk to Tubbo’s aunt when they got back.
Speaking of Puffy, Ranboo grabbed his phone to call her. She was another one of his teachers, his AP Psychology professor, and arguably the one he was closest to. It was for that reason that Puffy was watching over Ranboo’s… son? Eh, the kid called him “Dad”, so he guessed he was a father now.
The call was picked up and Ranboo saw Puffy’s face on the screen, “Hey Ran! I heard about what happened from Niki. Everything okay?”
“I’m fine, just a little spooked is all. How’s Michael?”
Ranboo saw her move from what looked like the kitchen to the living room, “He hasn’t stopped asking about you since he saw you on tv. He’ll be happy to talk to you again!”
She called to the kid, pulling him up onto her lap on the couch, “Say hi to Boo, Michael!”
The kid glanced at the screen before grabbing it, “Dad! Hi!”
“Hey kiddo. How’s it been with Miss Puffy?” He smiled at the kid’s bright face and wide eye.
“Good! She let me draw an watch movies an she took me to the zoo yesterday!”
The kid recounted the zoo visit with some additives from Puffy as Ranboo walked around his room and packed his things. Michael was always so energetic, keeping Ranboo on his toes and making him smile more than he normally would’ve.
“That sounds very fun, Michael,” Ranboo gave the child a big smile, “I promise I’ll be back tomorrow afternoon, okay?”
“Okay, Dad!”
~~
“Thank you so much for coming back here, Ranboo,” Phil shook the teen’s hand as he exited the car, “We just need a final overview and then we can start fully investigating.”
“Good to hear that,” Ranboo was led back into the building and taken down the destroyed hall towards the lab he was in just twelve hours before. His shoes hit the remaining rubble on the ground as he walked over it, “So, what exactly am I here for?”
“Did you see anything strange when you walked in or someone else in the lab?” Technoblade pulled out a small notepad and pen, which looked very odd in his large hands.
“No? I’m pretty sure I was alone. I only heard myself and whatever sounds the spiders made.”
“Did anything happen before or after the explosion? Any strange clicks or any one in the room afterwards?”
“Nope. It was me, and then I passed out, but I woke up to see you guys running in, then I was out again. Next thing I knew, I was waking up next to Tubbo in the ambulance.”
“Alright, now, final one, where were you standing when the bomb went off?”
Ranboo retraced his steps around the room, walking over to the now-destroyed wall of glass cases. He turned and faced the door, “I was here, then turned when I heard the thing go off, then I was on the floor closer to the wall.” He backed up until he hit the caution tape around the glass, “Then everything went black.”
“Okay, that’s all you remember?”
“Yes,” he lied.
“Alright. I’ll take it and email you later if any news pops up and we need something else from you. The car out front will take you to the airport,” Phil gave Ranboo a smile, “Good luck out there, kid.”
The teen winced slightly when the man patted him on the back, but got over the slight pain quickly. He walked out to the car and nearly fell asleep on the ride.
~~
Ranboo dropped his bag on the floor of his apartment, took off his mask, and took one big deep breath, taking in the familiar scent of home. He stretched his arms over his head and walked into the kitchen, where Puffy and Michael sat patiently.
“Dad!” The small child ran over and nearly toppled Ranboo.
“Hey, Mikey,” the teen leaned down and picked the kid up, relishing in the way he held tightly onto Ranboo’s neck in a hug, “I thought I told you not to miss me too much.”
“You know I can’t do that, Boo,” Michael mumbled into his father’s coat.
“He was up all night last night wondering if you were gonna come back early,” Puffy said, standing up and grabbing her own bag, “He’s exhausted.”
“Oh I bet,” Ranboo moved Michael so he could see his son’s tired face, “Aren’t you?”
Michael muttered something unintelligible before stuffing his face back into Ranboo’s shoulder. Ranboo simply chuckled and ran his fingers through Michael’s dark curly hair.
“I think that answers that question…” he said, giving Puffy a look.
She laughed quietly, “Well, I’ll be off now. I got a few more things to grade before Monday.”
Before Puffy could leave, Ranboo grabbed her sleeve, “Please, let me at least pay you-“
“How many times do we have to go over this? It’s okay. I see how your life is right now and I could never ask you for monetary compensation,” she pulled his arm away and held it in her hands, “You’re a very special kid, Ranboo. Just let me repay you by giving you the opportunity to learn. I’ll see you Monday, right?”
He hesitated before sighing, “Right. I’ll see you then, Miss Puffy.”
“Of course, student Ranboo,” she rolled her eyes with a smile and walked out of the apartment, leaving Ranboo to put his son to bed.
That night, Ranboo couldn’t sleep. He tossed and turned, trying to find any comfortable position, but his mind kept racing.
The dreams he’s been having when he did fall asleep haven’t been helping. All they were were explosions of color, two colors always shining out brighter than the rest, then a fall through a spiral of black and white.
He woke up before he hit the bottom of the spiral, though.
Multiple times that night, he had the same dream. Colors and spirals and falling. He hated it. He couldn’t sleep.
Morning came faster than he expected it to.
Whelp… he thought, Today’s another day.
~~
Sunday came and went with Ranboo taking Michael to the park and to hang out with Tommy and Tubbo. Monday had arrived with hardly any issue, though Ranboo was still hesitant to try to sleep the night before.
Tubbo was very light on pointing it out with a, “Hey bossman, you look stupid tired.”
“Nah, looks like he got smacked by a train then spent seven hours crying his eyes out,” Tommy sat on their bench, just outside of the high school campus. It had been their bench since they met freshman year. Tommy and Tubbo were already friends and Ranboo was sent to the school by his foster family at the time. Pulling tons of strings got him to his current work and place, but he has to maintain the level of responsibility it takes or else the court would find out about him and Michael. And he couldn’t have that.
Ranboo sat up from his hunched over position, “Thanks, guys,” he sighed, “Sorry, I’m just really tired.”
“Did you sleep at all last night?” Tubbo pulled an energy drink out of his bag. Where he got them from, or where he kept getting them from, neither Ranboo nor Tommy had any idea. When they tried to stop him, it all went downhill from there.
“No, I’ve…” he trailed off. Maybe Tubbo would force him to see an actual professional if he knew about the dreams. Ranboo didn’t want that. The next thing he needed was the court getting pushy with how he was living, “It’s okay, really. I just had a restless night.”
“Still thinking about Friday?” Tommy was nudged in the ribs, “What?! He seems fine to talk about it!”
“You don’t just assume that, you bastard!” Tubbo snarled.
“It’s okay, Tubbs,” Ranboo stood up and chugged the drink, “I’ll see you in Bio.”
Ranboo turned to walk away, but Tubbo stopped him. The shorter gave Ranboo a hug, squeezing his torso tight.
“Please be careful today, okay?” Tubbo mumbled, “I don’t want anything bad happening to my best friend.”
Ranboo pat Tubbo’s head, “I’ll be fine, okay? I’ll last two hours without you. Then it’s lunch then Psych, then we’re done, okay?”
“Okay…” Tubbo pulled away and let Ranboo go to his first class.
Now, of course Ranboo hated being the center of attention. He already garnered it by being 6’6 and wearing a black mask all the time, but this time it felt so much worse. The news of him being the one to be affected by the explosion spread quickly to his peers, and they stared at the small scar running along his eyebrow and the small bandages running down his wrists and arms. He would’ve worn a jacket to cover them, but it was almost 90 degrees outside and he hated being too hot.
He arrived at his computer lab class and sat down. People in the class were already staring and whispering in his direction. He sighed and just ignored them, pulling out his notebook and logging on to the garbage school desktop. Today was gonna be a long day.
Ranboo almost ran out of his second hour and to his biology class the second the bell rang. He barreled inside and almost knocked over Niki, who was opening the door.
“Woah, Ranboo this isn’t Tokyo Drift, what are you doing?” She caught him by the arm and yanked him to a stop.
“Hey ma’am,” he said, taking a deep breath, “Sorry. Just wanted to get here as fast as I could.”
“I can tell, kid,” she closed the door, knowing her students were smart enough to just walk in, “Is it the other students?”
He nodded, running his hand through his hair, “I hate it. I already got stared at, it’s even worse now.”
“And the fact that all of my other general ed classes have only been asking about the trip hasn’t helped me a whole bunch either. But, you know how quickly news tapers out here,” she shook her head, “This’ll all blow over by Wednesday. Just keep to yourself and don’t listen to what they say. I know you already keep out of most things, but just keep doing it, okay?”
“Okay,” he took another breath and sat down in his seat, watching his friends trickle in and finish the small class.
Niki sat on the front table, swinging her legs slightly, “So. Biology?”
No one spoke. Ranboo fidgeted with the pen in his hands, trying his hardest to ignore the loud silence around him. A few seconds dragged out into years, and the quietest things were suddenly as loud as rolling thunder. A too-heavy breath, the tapping of a foot, someone grabbing their notebook, someone swiping on their phone screen.
Suddenly, all of the noises swelled, growing like an orchestra hitting a crescendo. They blended together and created the most ear-splitting noise ever. Ranboo’s hands flew up to his ears, covering them in hopes of ridding himself of the terrible sound. His eyes blurred in and out of focus, worsening the ache that erupted in his head. Too many sounds, too many smells, everything felt too strange.
His vision went black and he felt his body fall out of the chair and onto the floor.
When he awoke, he was on the tile floor of the classroom, the desks and chairs all pushed to the side and his classmates gathered in a very loose circle, with Niki next to him. Her voice was muffled and accompanied by ringing. Even as he sat up and regained his composer, everything felt so… not there.
His vision blurred even more, he couldn’t hear his teacher or his friends, his hands felt numb as if he’d slept on them for two weeks, and he couldn’t think straight.
Like everything had gone from a hundred to zero in a matter of seconds.
His breathing quickened and he brought his hands up to his head to stop the ringing, even if he couldn’t feel them. He did feel the tears running down his face, though. They didn’t stop as he watched a figure that looked like Tubbo grab his hand.
The ringing slowed and lowered, until he could make out the words Tubbo was saying. Ranboo felt himself respond, but his tongue felt heavy. Instead of his eyes being blurry due to whatever had happened, they were blurry due to the tears swelling in his eyes.
“Hey, hey,” Tubbo was whispering. Ranboo felt a hand drag his own out from his hair, “Let’s not do that. Hold mine, okay?”
Ranboo nodded, trying to get his breathing under control, “Okay…”
“You with me?”
“Yeah…” he kept nodding, the motion somewhat relaxing as it meant he knew he could hear and respond easily, “Yeah I’m with you…”
“Okay, good, good. Niki and the others are outside, okay? I can take you up to the health office when you’re ready, okay?” Tubbo held Ranboo’s hands looser, allowing him to use them himself, “Just take it slow.”
Ranboo reached up and grabbed the mask that had fallen down his face. He pulled it back up into place and used the back of his hand to wipe his tears. He slowly stood up, using a nearby chair and Tubbo’s shoulder for stability.
“There you go… you good?”
“Yeah, I’m fine.”
“Alright…” Tubbo held Ranboo up as they left the classroom and walked towards the health office. Apparently Niki had already called him in, so they just had to go to the rickety beds in back. Ranboo sat down on one of them as a familiar-looking nurse walked over.
“Hey, Ranboo,” Wilbur Soot knelt down next to him. Tommy’s older brother was one of the nurses in the office, being an apprentice looking to get his medical license, “Niki explained a bit over the phone. Mind telling me what happened?”
“I’m guessin… guessing some kind of sens-“ he paused. Wilbur handed him a cup of water and a handful of pain meds, “Sensory overload, but I don’t know what could’ve caused it.”
“Okay. Well, I can only keep you here for so long as you don’t have a parent to sign you out and you aren’t old enough to do it yourself so you can leave,” Wilbur glanced back at the lead nurse in his office, “I can only do so much. I’m sorry, but you need to be ready to go to your next class.”
Ranboo slowly swallowed the rest of the water, “I understand. I’ll be good in a minute.”
“Do you want me to get your stuff so you can at least have it?” Tubbo asked.
“No, just take it with you, I’ll meet you at lunch.”
“Alright, bossman,” Tubbo left the office with another glance at Ranboo. He was obviously concerned, but the elder didn’t see it too much. Instead he just tried to calm himself and reset his mind.
“I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on you, okay?” Wilbur stood and walked away when Ranboo nodded.
The rest of the day was pretty okay by Ranboo’s standards. It was still a bit difficult with his eyes and ears trying to readjust to some issues. Sometimes, he felt too much. Sometimes, he heard or smelt too much. He decided to just try and block it all out, focusing on his work and keeping himself away from things that may spark another problem.
He met with his friends in Psychology, then they walked down a few blocks to Michael’s school.
No one said anything, preferring to not mention what happened in Biology.
“Alright, I need to get home before Will to get some things ready for tonight,” Tommy pointed in his own direction.
“What’s happening tonight?” Ranboo looked back at him from talking to Michael.
“The court’s having a lawyer come over to discuss our current situation. He’s supposed to make sure Wilbur is capable of taking care of me,” Tommy shrugged, “He’ll be here in a few hours, so I gotta go clean.”
“Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow, right?”
“Yeah, totally. As long as this guy doesn’t think Will’s bein a good brother,” he chuckled as he started to walk away, “See you boys tomorrow!”
Ranboo lifted Michael up and waved goodbye to his friend, “Well, Tubbo, I have to go as well. Just wanna get home.”
“I understand, big man,” Tubbo smiled, “Get home, I’ll take Michael after school tomorrow to see his friends at the park.”
“Thank you so much,” Ranboo nudged the child in his arms, “Say bye, Michael!”
“Bye, Bee!”
~~
The second problem arose a few days later when everything had seemingly calmed down. Ranboo was finishing up some weekend homework when he felt something… strange in the back of his mind. Like a warning. He turned and his arm flew up to catch a small yellow foam ball from hitting his face.
Standing in the doorway was Tommy and Michael, the kid holding a Nerf gun clearly too large for him to hold. The three stood in shocked silence, just glancing between each other and then staring at the hand holding the toy bullet.
“Okay, what the f-“
“Swear in front of my kid, and you’re not getting math help for a month.”
Tommy shut his mouth, but the silence was filled by Michael, “Dad, how did you do that.”
“I have… no idea,” Ranboo’s hand dropped and he just stared at the toy, running the ball between his fingers like it was second-nature.
“Hang on,” Tommy walked in and grabbed Ranboo by his arm, dragging the kid out of his room and to the living room, “We have to test this.”
“I do not consent to this-“ Ranboo was placed in front of the couch, his back facing his son and best friend, who were both carrying Nerf guns.
“DODGE THESE, SHITLORD,” Tommy screamed as the two launched round upon round of foam bullets into Ranboo’s back. The other yelled as each one hit his body, contorting to try and dodge the constant firing.
“TOMMY! ow. STOP SWEARING! ow. IN FRONT OF THE KID!”
“NO!!” Tommy only fired more rounds into Ranboo as he fell on the floor, out of breath and laughing too hard.
“WE WIN!” Michael ran over and jumped onto Ranboo’s stomach, holding the toy gun aloft in victory.
“Of course we did, king,” Tommy grabbed Michael and put him on his shoulders, “You’re the greatest warrior this side of the Wide Lands!”
“I’m a great warrior!” Michael giggled as Tommy ran him around like a knight on his horse. Ranboo winced from the stings as he stood up, laughing at the two.
Then, the strange feeling returned, accompanied by a direction. He turned and faced the window, peeking through the curtains at a figure standing on the rooftop on the other side of the street.
They wore a mask, so even if their face was illuminated, Ranboo couldn’t see them. A giant cloak billowed out behind them and Ranboo could see an arrow knocked into a bow that they were aiming directly at the window. They lowered it when they saw Ranboo, though, putting the arrow back into their quiver and lowering the weapon. The figure only disappeared behind the rooftop, leaving Ranboo very confused and with a very strange feeling in his guy.
He turned when he felt another presence in the room. Tommy and Michael gave him the same expression, “You good?”
“I’m fine,” he closed the curtains again, “Lets clean all these up, shall we?”
“How about… no?” Ranboo caught the glance the two gave each other before they both grabbed foam swords from behind their backs and charged Ranboo with wicked grins.
“OH COME ON-“
~~
Ranboo doesn’t know how he got into this situation. One minute, he’s making sure Michael is far from the rooftop edge, and the next, he’s somehow sticking to the side of a concrete building using nothing but his fingertips and toes.
He heard Michael yelling down at him, but the sound of the wind and the blood rushing in his ears meant he could hardly hear the kid. He yelled back reassurances to make sure his son knew he was okay, but he didn’t know if Michael heard.
Ranboo lifted his left hand, moving it slightly upwards and grabbing onto the brick above. He tested it before pulling the opposite leg up too. Ranboo pushed himself up and grabbed another section with his other hand and other foot.
It was easier than he thought, only taking a bit of strength to really pull his entire body weight up a flat surface with nothing but a bit of surface area. Yeah, he’d have to look into it.
But he thinks just the fact that he can stick to flat walls a hundred feet above ground is enough realization for one night.
He grabbed onto the cinder blocks above him and pulled himself upwards, sitting on the edge like he’d climbed himself onto a tree. Ranboo pushed himself off the blocks and away from the edge, scraping along the floor and reaching the crying child in the center.
“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here,” he hugged Michael, who had thrown himself into Ranboo’s arms when he first looked up. At least the kid understood to stay away from the edge, “Okay, inside?” The kid nodded, “Alright.”
He picked Michael up and walked them both inside. The kid had fallen asleep on the way down to the apartment, so Ranboo just put him on the couch with a blanket thrown over him. Ranboo gave his kid a small head bop before sitting down at his desk and trying to figure out what the hell just happened.
He scooted around the apartment on his rolling chair, trying to make the strange occurrence happen again on other objects. A mug, a book, some pencils, but nothing happened. Eventually, he just spun in circles for five minutes trying to figure our what to do. He stopped himself and stared at the wall next to the window.
Was it only flat wall surfaces? Ranboo sighed and stood up, stretching out his arm and placing his fingertips on the wall. He put the opposite leg up, then pushed.
He didn’t fall immediately. He put his other leg and arm up, crawling up the wall and onto the ceiling slowly but surely. Ranboo reached the center of the ceiling and laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. Surely none of his friends would believe him.
“What the fuck?” Tubbo’s voice rang out through the apartment and Ranboo lost focus and fell to the floor. Luckily it wasn’t that far of a drop and Ranboo was up on his feet in a few seconds.
“Oh, hey Tubbs-“
“Okay, lets dial it back, big man. What the fuck was that?!” Tubbo gestured to where Ranboo had just been.
“You’re dreaming?”
“You’ve already tried that on me, I don’t dream.”
“Drugs?”
“My father would kill me.”
“Very very tired?”
“I slept for twelve hours yesterday, try again.”
“Whelp. That’s it,” Ranboo turned and walked over to the window, attempting to open it.
“No, no, no, you get back here,” Tubbo grabbed his arm and pulled him back, moving him out of the way to shut and lock the window, “You’re answering my questions, here and now.”
Ranboo’s shoulders fell, “Fine,” he sat back down in the chair, “For the past few days, I’ve been experiencing some… enhancements.”
“Enhancements? Like what?”
“Remember my panic attack during Bio that Monday?”
“Yeah,” Tubbo took the other chair in the living room.
“I’ve summed it up to sensory overload through the improvement of all of my senses. They’ve been… improved, somehow.”
“What else?”
“Increased reaction, agility, and… walking on the walls, I guess,” Ranboo leaned back, staring at the ceiling and closing his eyes
“You’re a superhero?”
Ranboo’s head snapped back down, “No?! Something must’ve happened in that lab. I dunno what, though.”
“No, I mean, you have superpowers, like in the comics!” Tubbo reached into his backpack and pulled out one that he always kept on him. He flipped to certain pages, pointing stuff out, “Regular guy experiences strange phenomenon, then slowly gains powers. All you need is a villain to fight and a sidekick!”
“Okay, no-“ Ranboo shoved the comic back, “I’ve already got way too much on my plate already. I’m a father and an AP student, I genuinely do not have the time.”
“Tommy and I can watch Michael while you figure stuff out,” Tubbo waved the paper around, “You need to find out all the powers you have and report back to me. I bet I can be your guy in the chair!”
“Guy in the chair?”
Tubbo started to bounce in his seat, “The one with all the maps and cool tech! Like Alfred to Batman!”
“Tubbo, I’m not gonna be a super hero. There aren’t even big problems for me to fight!” Ranboo sighed and knelt down in front of his friend, an apologetic look meeting Tubbo’s eyes, “I’m sorry about your hopes, but I am simply too overwhelmed right now.”
“But what if something does happen?” Tubbo urged. He seemed very set on the idea of his friend becoming a superhero with these new abilities, “What then?”
“Then, I will act as I see fit, but I can’t just go out if nothing’s happening. It’ll only attract some actual dangers and then they’ll build up and then I die.”
He… he didn’t mean to say that last part.
Tubbo stood, his eyes shifting between anger and sadness, “Okay… okay. You know what, it’s fine. I’ll be on standby just in case, okay?”
“Okay,” Ranboo grabbed Tubbo’s shoulders and pulled him into a hug, “I’m sorry for being mean.”
“I understand it. You’re being careful. I’m sorry for pushing it.”
“It’s okay.”
The two smiled, slowly devolving into laughing. Neither could take a situation seriously, could they?