Everyone was in the van, quiet. They didn't really know what to say. Apricity was driving, with Emperor in the shotgun seat. Eret laid on one of the pull outs; The one behind Emperor. Tommy sat right next to the end of the pullout, with a med kit separating him and Tubbo. Ranboo was walking around, as they had just finished changing over-garments, and Koe was sat reading some of the books they snatched behind Apricity's seat.
"Now, Chao, this tissue right here looks more, um, ill then the skin on, let's say, your arm. Well, I'm going to have to disinfect it. I need you to make a choice. Do you want it to heal faster and hurt, or take longer and not hurt?" Afinity grabbed some medicine out of one of the cupboards.
"How bad will it hurt?" Chao eyed the medicine bottles.
"I'll be completely honest, some will hurt more than others. But, we won't do anything big till we get out of this damn van. So, mostly a stinging pain, for now."
"Well, ok. Yeah, just do it." Chao looked to Ranboo. He looked preoccupied with something. Following Ranboo's gaze, he saw Tubbo, who was looking at his feet.
"Lotv, look at me." Tubbo turned away from them. "Stinger." They cupped his face with their hand and turned his head towards themself.
"Eret jumped in front of you. It wasn't your fault."
"Whatever." He mumbled in response.
"Lotv, if she didn't have a plan, they wouldn't have done that. You would've survived. But, you're needed. I'm assuming you know why since you're the stand-in, Emperor?"
"Actually, that's something I needed to tell you. High- I mean, Eret, didn't appoint me as his 1st back up."
"Huh? Then who is it? Papa J?" Ranboo looked to them.
"No, Enderblade, she appointed you."
They looked at him in shock, then looked to Eret's unconscious body.
"I can't- I can't do that. I-"
"Shadow." He looked to Tubbo. "If you accept that she trusted you with this and he believes in YOU, I'll try to stop blaming myself."
"You will stop blaming yourself." Ranboo slid over to Tubbo and grabbed his hands.
"I'll try to." He smirked. Ranboo stood to get some medicine from Afinity.
"Works for me. Also Koe, don't blame yourself for any of these injuries." They gestured towards Tubbo, Tommy, and Eret. Koe looked up from his book.
"Jerk."
"Love you too." Shadow smirked as he threw Koe a water bottle and a prescription bottle without the prescription label. Instead it said 'Medicine. Take it.' in Afinity's small handwriting. "You need to take those. Eases bruise and joint pain. There's also some meds that'll help with your headache." They threw one to Afinity to give to Tommy and walked to Tubbo to give him his. "Wisteria, open your mouth please." Tubbo opened his mouth and took a sip of the water Ranboo handed him. They dropped the pills into his mouth.
He swallowed, "now, how long until all my crap heals up?" He looked to Ranboo, who was giving Eret shots. He turned his head away; bad memories. Shots were a no-go. 'How does he move around so fucking fast?'
"Well, mild, low-grade ankle sprains will usually heal in one to three weeks with proper rest and non-surgical care, such as applying ice, and moderate injuries may take between three and four weeks. Because of limited blood flow to the ligaments of the ankle, more severe injuries may take between three and six months to heal. Luckily, I'd say it'll take 2 to 4 weeks, with what I can see at the moment. But, when we check it after the swelling goes down, there could be a different answer."
Tubbo stiffened. "I was really talking about my shoulder, E.B."
Ranboo sighed, "I know. Well, lucky you, Daggar didn't stab one of the major blood vessels in your shoulder. Instead they barely missed one. Still, it won't be the fastest heal, and will most likely take some physical therapy."
"How're you so calm about this?" Tubbo looked at him. "How...?"
Ranboo sighed, and sat between Tommy and Tubbo. "I..."
Aimsey stood up and walked to them. "You're struggling. Would you rather...?" He smiled to Ranboo as they pointed to herself.
"Oh my gods, yes please." Ranboo swiftly stood and helped Afinity care for Eret's wounds.
"Shadow has had his own...big injuries."
"What?" Tommy laughed, "surely not. Right?"
"Shadow, will you?" Aimsey tugged at their own shirt.
"Fine. Guys, I've been doing dangerous stuff like this for most of my life. When I was younger, I went on a pretty dangerous mission. And, well..." Ranboo lifted his shirt to show some sort of plated sports-bra. Small scars sprouted out from underneath it, but lifting the sports-bra revealed a series of deeper scars, spread all over their chest as if it was a disease. The source looked nasty, like a burn but with the depth of a stab wound.
"Holy shit, Shadow!" Tommy gasped.
"What in the fucking world happened?!" Tubbo stood up to start towards them, but the pain from his ankle made him sit down.
"Lotv, watch the ankle." Shadow warned as they pulled their shirt down and walked over to the fridge to make some more ice packs. Tommy helped Lotv resettle. "An enemy stabbed me with a knife that they attached to a battery. Electric-charged blade. Luckily I stopped them when I did, or I'd either be paralyzed or dead." Silence.
"I'm scared to ask, but how old were you?" Tommy took one of the icepacks Ranboo made and rested it on his right eye.
Apricity spoke up. "He was 12. I was there."
The room was dead-silent besides Ranboo's response. "Yeah, you helped Papa J and Dream carry me out, right?" Apricity laughed.
"Yeah, you were pretty beat up. Eret was so worried. So was Dream."
And at the mention of him, the room fell silent once more.
"Shit. Guys, their are people on our tail!" Apricity called out. "Anyone have a plan?"
Emperor smiled, "boss, may I?" Ranboo smiled back wearily.
"You have my permission."
"Thank you, boss. Afinity, get your shit together. E.B? Can you?"
"On it." Ranboo smiled as he tossed her 2 grenades. "Afinity!" As he turned to face Shadow, he caught the revolver thrown to him. They threw one to Aimsey as well.
"What type of revolver is this?" Afinity asked.
Ranboo started digging through a cabinet that needed a code to be opened. He pulled out some bullets. ".22 caliber. Low range, but it's quiet. Grab a .357 magnum too, it's louder, but has a long range. Neither drop their bullet shells though, which is the main concern."
"Sweet." They grabbed the magnum and a rope. "Apricity, unlock the back doors!" As he unlocked them, she walked up to him. "Afinity, open the doors, then run out of the way." Afinity did as instructed. Aimsey shot down the van and full-on jumped out of the vehicle. They landed on the hood of a car beside the van. Throwing the rope onto the roof of the car, she swung back into the van, and began to climb up it. After a couple seconds, a hand appeared.
"Come on up, Afinity." He laughed as he took the rope from them and walked to his father.
"You gonna stop me?"
"Heh, no, you've got this mate. Love you!" Apricity smiled.
"Hate you too, dad." Afinity smirked, then ran full speed to the open doors. He swung, then landed on the roof of the van with a thud. They heard Shadow shut the doors.
They heard a bullet hit the back doors of the van. "I was gonna ask if you were ready Afinity, but you need to be now." He pulled out the .22 caliber and advised Afinity to do the same.
"Now, a shoot-off."
— — —
"Ah, the sound of bullets. Lovely."
"Stop being so sarcastic, Chao." Tubbo finished the sentence with an unintended, strained chuckle. He looked to Ranboo. "Hey wait, what're you doing 'BoSs'?" He shook his hands crazily to match his voice. His voice changed back to normal. "In all seriousness, what are you doing?"
"Well boss man, I need to be ready if back-up's needed." They smiled as they loaded a gun.
"Hey E.B.? What type of shotgun is that?" Koe looked up from the mess of books, paper, and ink he was working through.
"This sucker," 'that is not a hand gun,' Tubbo gaped as Ranboo loaded it. "Is a model 870 magnum shotgun. Pops used to say it was the best gun ever made." They smiled.
"Well damn, Shadow." Koe laughed.
"Damn is right! Woah!" Chao laughed-
The van shook. "Might need that back-up!" Ran through everyone's earpieces.
"Koe, your job is to keep those three secure. I imagine we're about to sling around a bit. Buckle them up. I'm going to the side." Ranboo walked to the side window of the van, preparing to shoot at the pursuers.
"You ready Koe? Apricity?"
"Ready as we'll ever be." Koe replied.
Ranboo slung open a window on the side of the van and stuck the gun halfway out. He started shooting at the tires of the cars pursuing them. "Emperor? Afinity? Are you two ok?" Ranboo yelled. A tire popped.
"No, uh, we need some-"a thud hit the roof of the van- "help!"
"Ah shit." Ranboo closed the window and put the gun up, and quickly put his suit back on. This time, with his new gloves.
"What're those gloves?" Tubbo asked.
"You'll see."
Ranboo opened the window and jumped out, flipping to the outside of the van. 'Gloves, eject!' And Koe, Chao, and Lotv watched as little indents were pushed through the metal. Koe ran over and closed the window.
"So, those gloves were probably like his boots and eject crystals for climbing."
"Oh you don't say!?" Chao glared at him.
"Don't be all pissy with me because you got hurt Chao."
Silence. "Whatever." Was all Chao mumbled in response.
— — —
As Ranboo landed on top of the van, he was greeted with Afinity laying on the ground, a slash across his face whilst Aimsey fought the attacker, his sword verses his dagger and gun. They ran up behind and gave the attacker a pistol whip. The shooter from the chasing van screamed.
"MIDNIGHT!" looking over their shoulder, they saw the shooter in the shotgun seat as the driver kept pursuing them. Midnight kept fighting, but was clearly dazed. Picking the kid up, he gave Aimsey a knowing smile, and threw the kid at the van. The three watched as the pursuers faces contorted with panic. If they had any chance of recovering from the incident, Emperor threw a colored grenade just as Afinity shot an explosive arrow.
*BOOM!*
Three knocks hit the roof of the van. Apricity unlocked the doors, and Koe opened them. First Ranboo swung in, followed by Aimsey, with Afinity stumbling in last. Aimsey closed the doors and secured their weapons as Ranboo tended Afinity's wounds.
"Well, that looks nasty." Koe smirked.
"Oh shut up, prick." Afinity lightheartedly spat back.
"Could you figure out who they were?" Apricity asked.
Tommy swallowed his coke. "Huh? It was obviously Dream, right?"
"Ha! No kid."
"Huh...?"
Ranboo sighed. "Chao, we have more than 1 enemy."
"Well shit." They all looked a the speaker: Tubbo.
"Me and Chao better fix ourselves up quick then?" He smirked.