TW: fighting, violence, injuries, blood (lots), burns, death, graphic violence, lots of PTSD, nightmares, death, whips, abuse, human trafficking, unintentional self harm, dehumanization,
Please let me know if I missed any
Stay away from the heros, that's the name of the game. Tommy is the one in full view and Ranboo is shadowed. Jubilee knew there was another vigilante, Astin. But the others always seemed dumbfounded when they caught a glimpse at him.
Surely Jubilee told them. Right?
Ranboo crouched down on a taller roof, his tail flicking left and right as he watched the scene play out. Tommy was running from the heros, over rooftops, and away from street view.
Mugging in the alley off of Sicle.
He watched for a moment longer, and then he was traveling through space, warped by time and dimensions.
He was spat out a little ways away, and crept over, watching the two people corner a little boy, probably around 10.
"Just hand it over, and we'll let you go."
Ranboo whistled low and soft, just a simple notion that he was there.
One of them turned and saw him, moving quickly, they grabbed the boy's wrist, and drew a knife.
Ranboo acted equally quick, grabbing the partner, and flicking his tail, watching it sharpen to a blade.
"If you move." The one holding the boy said, not seeing their teammate was being held hostage. "I will kill him."
Empty threats, empty lies, fear behind the eyes.
'If you bring that hand any closer,' he signed in the dim light, 'I will kill your partner.'
He poised his tail right over the heart.
'Let him go, are you afraid of winning an old fashioned fight? I'll even do a two against one.'
They relented, and threw the boy back, and, true to his word, Ranboo gave his hostage back and waited for them to lunge.
The person stumbled and spun on his heel, drawing a knife and lunging. Ranboo unsheathed two small knives, and combated if blow for blow.
One managed to land a hit from behind, and it sunk in deep, the knife piercing like hot fire, dragging down his side. He bit down a shriek of pain, and forced himself not to teleport away.
He gritted his teeth, and unsheathed his twin blades, making sweeps and quick changes they were barely able to combat.
Eventually he was able to get two clean hits, knocking them out, and leaving them slumped in the alley.
He picked up the knives, all four of them, and made a gleaming turquoise slash in the dirt with his claws.
"You're bleeding." The boy pointed out, and Ranboo was quick to cover it.
'Let's get you home.' He signed, offering a hand the boy took gently.
By the time they found his home, Ranboo was dizzy, and not just the 'spent the night teleporting' dizzy, but the 'I'm losing way too much blood' dizzy, which worried him.
There wasn't much he could use to pressure the wound, and half of his shirt was soaked and cold with dark teal blood.
He hid it well with his cape though.
It was far too dangerous to teleport, he was dizzy from both blood loss and teleporting, and his mind was sluggish, not working like it usually does.
He's pretty sure the comm broke because Tubbo hasn't said anything in a while. Which left him with a long walk home, not risking the rooftop, both because of heros and the strain on his side if he were to lift his arm.
He feet dragged, and his vision swam with the pain, the hand on his side was sticky and wet with blood. He was trying to pressure the wound, but it didn't work, or maybe it did, and Ranboo was too lightheaded to know.
He refused to sit down, knowing it would hurt to stand up, and continued the long walk home.
He shook the cloudiness out of his head, pushing away the pain, more focused on staying upright and not getting lost, than the pain.
Eventually he made it to the building, and dragged his way up the stairs. Tubbo met him by the door, brows knit down and he was talking, but Ranboo didn't know what it was about.
He was being shook, and ow that hurt his head, and his side, maybe the blood had finally stopped or maybe he was dreaming. Tubbo was talking, but the words never lined up with his mouth.
He was shaken again, and he whined, because that hurt his head and his mind wasn't working.
Firey fingers worked around him, burning like the sun, dancing over his face and his side. There was a sad trill. And Ranboo immediately responded with a warble to reassure the avian.
At some point, the delirium and tiredness, caught up to him, and he passed out. The night going past as his brain did cartwheels.
Eyes looking up in defeat, hesitate, and become pinned.
Never waiver, go for the kill.
Has the other in a chokehold, much stronger even though he's bigger. Tail blade plunging into the heart, the sickening crack of ribs being broken
Never waiver, monster, horrible person.
Cheek being scratched on the cool floor. Someone's hand pinning his head down.
What did he do to deserve this? He didn't speak, didn't do anything wrong.
A boot came down with a sickening crack, dark turquoise running down his face and sticky in his hair.
Tommy was shrieking and writhing in pain as a challenger pinned him, stabbing him again and again.
The boy finally fell limp, his wings askew, and unmoving. The crowd cheered, and all Ranboo could do was watch.
"Take the thing away." Someone grumbled, and he was shoved brutally, focusing everything on not falling, his hands bound behind his back.
Ranboo's dirty hair fell into his face as he was shoved again, keeling and then having his face lifted by his hair. He missed when it was by his horns, much less painful, but ah well, he'd get used to it.
He was hiding in an alley, hoping his younger brothers stayed out of sight.
Punishment
Death hanging over their heads as they walked down dark halls.
If you're caught, you'll never get away.
Prized possessions, means a lot.
There were hundreds of people, all dressed in black, marching towards him and his brothers, holding cuffs and whips, they were surrounded, and had no choice.
Back to no freedoms, to escorts down dark halls, to fighting for your lives, to watching others collapse under your h̶a̶n̶d̶s̶ claws.
No mercy, monster
Killer
Tainted blood
Monster
No mercy.
Warm hands raked across hair, not a monster
A tail brushing past his ankle, loved
Bright colors shift before his eyes, had no choice
Antennas raked the base of horns, not alone
Ranboo didn't know how long he was out, it felt like he relived years, memories mixing with worries, nightmares seeming real, and memories seeming like dreams.
He was out long enough for his mind to become scattered, all of the file cabinets open, and scattered on the floor.
He peeled his eyes open, and he was in bed, sunlight streaming through the window, and no one else around.
His ears swiveled, as he lay on the mattress, his brain trying to sort itself back out, gaping black and cobwebs being shoved violently back into their drawers, so was the shining warm bright things. Everything being reorganized rapidly.
His eyes landed on a sticky note.
ค੮ ω૦Րқ, ς૯૯ ყ૦υ Ն8Ր
- 𝕋𝕠𝕞𝕞𝕪
With a sigh he flopped back down on the bed. A hand came up and gently traced the slash line, it was long, going from his chest to his waist. He brought his hands to his face. There was tape over his claws.
You hurt them
Had to restrain you
Monster
Monster
M͚͚̻͂̇͜͟͟Ơ̷̴̪̪̝͈̥͈̆̀̚N͔͔̥̺̞̿͊̇S̢̼̼͖̺͖ͪT̼̼̖̾͟͞E̢̢̻ͮͧͦ͋͞͡R̛̦̦̝̤͌̏͜͟͜
His hands curled into themselves, and he shook off the thought, reminding himself to chain several cabinets as he shoved the gaping black, and skeletons back into the drawer.
With a sigh, he forced himself out of bed, the wound pulling just a bit, as he walked to the bathroom, his tail swinging lazily as he went.
Eyes glowing as he took a good look at himself. He was really cut up, the gash was really big, Tubbo's stitch job was well done though, and it looked to be healing.
There were claw marks up and down his arms, and overall just looked like a mess.
Nothing too bad though.
The door clicked, making Ranboo jump and scramble out of the bathroom.
Tubbo's face lit up when he saw Ranboo, "You threw me through a fucking loop Ranboo." He scolded, his face breaking into a grin.
Ranboo's ears drooped as he looked over Tubbo. He had dark bags under his eyes, even more than usual, and his half exposed arms had gashes.
"Did- did I-" Tubbo saw Ranboo's gaze trail down to his arms, and tugged at his sleeves.
"It wasn't your fault." He said finally.
"I hurt you." Ranboo said, his voice strangled. "I hurt you, didn't I."
Tubbo wouldn't meet his gaze. "It wasn't your fault." He repeated, this time, more resolute.
"Did I hurt Tommy too?" The oldest asked, anxiety and guilt coursing through him.
Tubbo thought on it. "No, you didn't hurt Tommy." He said walking into the bathroom.
Ranboo stayed rooted to the spot.
"Why did you hesitate?" Ranboo said softly, sadly.
"Don't play that game with me, I'm not lying to you." Tubbo said, anger around the edges.
He scrubbed his face with a sigh. "It always takes a toll on us to see you hurt, just like it does to see Tommy hurt, but you said things that Tommy doesn't understand anymore, so physically? No. Mentally? Always."
Ranboo whined at that.
He hurt them,
He hurt them.
"Calm, Ranboo, calm. Stars! You also hurt yourself, that's why there is tape on your claws."
Tubbo looked at him ruefully. "The comms cut out and the last thing I heard was a gasp. I knew something had gone awfully, but I didn't think it would be this bad."
He flew up and placed his hands on Ranboo's shoulders. "I called Tommy back and tried to fix your comm. You were radio silent for an hour and a half."
He laughed, wet and tired, "You were dead on your feet, four knives in your hands, one coated with your blood, your shirt dark teal." His laugh turned into a sob. "I thought you were dead."
"I thought that after everything, this would be what killed you."
Tubbo squeezed him tightly, head buried into the crook of his neck, tears stinging him.
Ranboo flicked his tail at Tubbo's fast moving wings. "Never Bee, I could never leave you, or Tommy."
The door clicked open, and Tommy came hurtling in, almost knocking the older two over.
"Ranboo! You're okay!" He said, relief setting into his wings as they slowly wrapped around the three.
"I'm sorry for worrying you guys." He muttered softly.
Tommy scoffed, "I wasn't worried." But his wings quivered and gave him away.
"It's okay, I'm just glad you're okay."
Love you
Love you forever
My brothers
My forever
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"You aren't going out tonight. You were just cut up, and lost a fourth of your blood."
"I won't do anything, I'll just be a standby for Tommy."
"You're not going out tonight."
Ranboo looked to Tommy.
"Sorry Boo, Tubs is right."
Ranboo suppressed a whine of sadness.
Don't trust you
Mind's your greatest asset
Protect them.
"C'mon, please?"
Tubbo shook his head, "You were out for 2 days, give yourself time to recover."
"Fine." Ranboo relented, his tail flicking back and forth in agitation.
"Thank you." Tubbo said softly.
Tommy threw himself out the window, and glided to the building next to them. Scaling up the wall like a feral raccoon.
Tubbo turned around, and sat at his desk in the corner, security cameras already booting up on his computer.
"Watch for the heros, once you find them, try not to loose track of them." He handed Ranboo a tablet they found on the side of the road. It was connected to the security cams too.
Ranboo flicked from camera to camera, watching the dead night through a screen.
"Do you miss being on the field?" He said after a minute.
Tubbo looked up from the screen with a sigh. "Sometimes, though I was never really a field person, and we need a back up just in case."
Ranboo scoffed, "please, you're one of the best fighters out there, and your ability goes unmatched."
"Except for you. You are the best fighter, stronger than anyone else. Your ability goes unmatched."
Ranboo flicked his younger brother on the nose. "Nah, Kit and Caz are the best fighters. Coordinated and unbeatable."
He saw a flicker of movement on the tablet. "Heros on 3rd and Beach Ave. intersection.
Can I play with them?
Tubbo tapped his comm. "No, I'm not letting Ranboo do anything reckless, you're not doing anything reckless either."
What's gonna stop me?
"Me, when I paralyze you for the next week."
Fine.
We watched him for the rest of the night. He was nimble and agile, and everything a raccoon could be, including mischievous.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
It's been nearly a week since knife sinking deep into skin, blood cold and sticky on his hands. Mind fogged and dizzy.
Ranboo forcefully shoves the drawer closed, locking it with chains of, need to do this, keep brother safe, stay alert. He dressed the part, doing the clasp on his cloak, and standing at the ready for the night.
Tubbo gave them a thumbs up, and with that, they were off, Tommy gliding through the air, and Ranboo almost playing tag with him, racing over the rooftops and dropping out of thin air.
All the adrenaline coursing through him as sure as his heartbeat.
Energy thrumming under his skin as he trilled, warping through space and time.
The enderian's eyes sparkled, purple particles shimmering brightly in the night.
As soon as they caught sight of black wings, Ranboo was gone. His mind calculating the coordinates in a matter of milliseconds, spitting him out on top of a nearby building.
He lowered himself close to the roof, and watched the heros approach Tommy. They approached him, and by the way he reacted, asked who I was.
Who who was? He asked, glee edged his voice as he mockingly glanced around.
Hm, I don't see anything, is lack o' sleep getting to ya?
Sparrow said something that wasn't picked up by the comm.
Don't worry Sparrow, lack of sleep gets to us all eventually.
Let's call it a night, I just got a call in.
Sparrow turned to his teammates, probably to ask something, and Tommy dipped off the roof.
Meet you home Astin.
Ranboo dematerialized, the sky blinking out in a shimmer of purple.
Call ins were for special circumstances. Each team had a specialty, and theirs were hostage situations.
Rogue and Slimecicle were tipped by someone, that there has been suspicious activity in a nearby office building, perhaps a hostage situation, all vigilantes are capable of handling everything, but it lowers the risk to just call in.
The enderian tipped his head up when they got to District 18 Las Nevadas. It was lit by the lights of casinos, and a storm was on the rise.
Tommy followed his gaze, brow furrowing at the sky. "Let's get this over with."
They slipped into the building, planning to start from the roof. Rouge and Slime following the two's every move.
It didn't seem right, the office building looked untouched as they swept each floor.
"Must be some underground shit." Tommy muttered, voicing the tension in the air.
"Yeah, yeah." Rouge said, more to reassure himself than anyone else.
Be careful, I'm watching the street cams.
Tommy eased open the door to the next level, his wings flaring open and snapping shut as he yelled, "It's a trap!"
He was thrown against the stairwell wall, and fell with a groan, shaking himself off, he stood up, and shoved whoever was there further into the room, tumbling over with them.
Ranboo and the other two followed in tow, and were met with the SBI.
Freeze.
Jubilee's voice was crystal clear and melodic, just like all sirens' voices.
Rouge and Slime caught the glazed over look, freezing on the spot, unmoving and unblinking. Ranboo looked over to Tommy where a war was going on behind his eyes.
The swirling tendrils of smoke taunted him, whispering things incoherent to Ranboo as he stood there.
Don't wonder what they are saying, or invite them to speak louder, they will do so with pleasure and you will succum to them.
It is much harder to force them out once you've let them in. Their whispers will cloud your mind and you can do nothing until you're released. They will become you, and you will have to watch what they do with your hands.
He can't blame Rouge and Slime though, they don't have walls, no barriers built specifically to resist siren voices. Probably because they never had to have them.
Tommy slammed down his walls, staring directly at Ranboo, as if waiting for a queue. He was standing behind Atlas.
Sparrow began pacing around the three of them. He stopped at Ranboo. "Do we have this one on records." He asked the other heros, looking the Endirian up and down.
The avian peered closely at Ranboo, and he lunged, punching a startled squawk out of the winged man as he bound him nimbly.
He turned them both and watched as Tommy did the same with Atlas, the young avian hardly as strong as the piglin man, but using his talon-like claws as a threat, managed to bind the bigger man.
Stop!
But neither of them reacted, keeping the heros bound tightly, their hands right above the elbows, claws pricking the skin as a threat.
"Release the others Jubilee! Friends for friends."
The Siren looked conflicted, even behind his eye mask. "Why aren't you guys stopping?" He asked instead.
"Why aren't they frozen and stopped?" Tommy said jerkimg to the heros they had bound.
Sparrow scoffed, "Siren blockers."
It was Ranboo's turn to scoff, freeing a hand to sign 'idiots'.
"What's so idiotic about that?"
Ranboo didn't plan on answering that.
"Let them go, lets have a fun fight! You scared of getting your ass kicked?" Tommy taunted.
Jubilee sighed, "release." He muttered under his breath.
The other vigilantes fell to the ground gasping for air, and Jubilee glared at them, a silent, 'your turn'.
Tommy just shrugged, and they both released their hostages.
The two heros whirled around, and they faced off. Three heros, against four vigilantes.
Atlas lunged first, going for Ranboo, and pulled out a massive sword. It's hilt inlaid with gemstones. Ranboo was quick, pulling out his twin blades and crossing them above his head, blocking the swing.
Atlas pulled the sword back, and went for his side, Ranboo parried him blow for blow, crossing his blades and watching everything.
It was getting to a point where a good amount of collateral damage was being caused, and the others must've sensed it too, because Tommy smashed through a window and glided down to a lower rooftop.
Ranboo teleported, and apparently took Atlas with him.
It's starting to rain.
Ranboo was under cover within a second. Watching the battle ensue from a covered balcony.
Atlas was a rather strong opponent, but heros don't fight dirty, so they were at a disadvantage.
Jubilee was fighting with a sword, Tommy was killing it, changing between fighting with a couple of daggers, and just his fists.
He was pulling out Sparrow's feathers, and clawing them with much too sharp talon-like claws.
But Atlas had knocked out Slime, and Jubilee was winning against Rouge, dispite the vigilante's skills.
So Ranboo tooka deep breath and rejoined the battle. The rain burned as it fell onto his exposed skin, and he knew it wound, only be a matter of time before it seeped through his clothes.
He had to act fast, and the rain was only getting harder, pooling on the flat roof and burning his feet.
Atlas's attention turned to the enderian, resuming the fight, and cracking down on the sixteen year old.
Ranboo gritted his teeth, and with a final shove, Atlas' sword fell off the roof and into an alley. The shove took him too far, or maybe he wasn't thinking straight, and he fell, his feet not moving quick enough, he splashed into one of the many puddles that had gathered on the roof.
He shrieked, long and nearly silent as he tried to push himself out of the puddle.
"Astin!" Tommy shouted abandoning his fight with Sparrow and pulling Ranboo out of the puddle.
"Go, take cover." He said, shoving ranboo toward the stairwell.
"You can't win, and Slimecicle isn't waking up any time soon." Ranboo whispered, grimacing from the pain.
"I'll get Rouge to leave with Slime, just stay."
And Ranboo did. Until Sparrow knocked Tommy over, and pinned him using his wings.
Ranboo teleported over and threw Sparrow off, the rain burning his already raw skin as he stood there, glaring at the black winged avian.
Then he was falling his face bloody from burns and being hit against the roof, there was a hand spread over his back, and when he twisted his head, Atlas was looking down on him, blood red eyes shining triumphantly from under a skull mask.
The burns hurt, they were re-burned constantly, and water pooled around him.
Ranboo may have a strong will, and a high pain tolerance, but he was mortal, and had his limit.
He cracked his eyes open as the pressure came off his back, Jubilee was standing over him.
Relax. . . Painless sleep.
And his mind succumbed to the whispers as he was lifted off the roof.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Look at this one." Someone said, a gloved hand lifting his chin up. Ranboo's eyes glowed and he barred his teeth. "Fiesty eh?"
"Oh, so perfect" another person said dangerously.
"Let's see how it does against a siren, a water manipulator. Fuck 'em up a bit."
He was shoved out into a ring with sand, someone else also shoved out.
He stumbled over to the other person.
"Please help me." He said in his broken' what the people call, English, "where am I?"
The other person looked at him ruefully, "Sorry kid."
With that, there was a burning sensation, water, water had hit his left eye.
The enderian shrieked, his voice warping and echoing in his native tongue.
The Siren had hurt him. What did he ever do to them?
His claws flexed, sliding out from under his skin, sharp and deadly.
The Siren shot another water blast at him, hitting his arm this time. He wanted to scream, but he would get a few hits in first.
He ran at the siren and grabbed their torso, claws sinking in deep and blood spilling over them.
The Siren shrieked, flailing about and the Enderian twisted his claws, bringing more blood from the older's body. Warm and sticky, the blood ran over his hands.
He pulled his claws out, expecting the siren to go at him again, or maybe apologize for burning him. But the siren keeled over, coughing up blood, and then he stopped, his eyes dim, and blood smeared on his mouth.
The little boy ripped himself away from the siren as people cheered.
"Are you happy about this?" He yelled in enderian, "are you happy to see someone die?"
Someone came over and dragged him out, the dead siren sitting on the sand.
"Look at it, siren fucked it up, but it was stronger."
"Ahh yes, it looked amazing."
He was handed a mirror, and gasped.
"What's the matter? Don't like what you see?" The two cackled as the enderian stared fretful at his eye.
The top left part of his face dried a discolored burn, and his left eye was a searing red instead of green.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
"Icarus shouted Astin. His name is probably Astin."
Ranboo was up on his feet in a matter of seconds, the world spun a little, and his whole body hurt, but that's okay, he was fine.
He flicked his tail, sharp as a sword, pierce through ribs quick as a knife.
He was on Sparrow, pinning his wings, tail poised for the kill.
It hurt his burns, and made him dizzy, but his resolve came from a place where it wasn't a matter of if you could stand, but more of a could you stomach the pain of being upright, and he could.
'Where am I?'
"You're in District 1 Manburg under the watch of the Hero Agency, now please get away from Sparrow." Atlas said, almost bored.
'If you let me go.'
"Kid, you're in no condition to fight right now, and you have an ability blocker, so whatever you're thinking of doing, you can't do."
Ranboo blanched, unconsciously reaching for his neck where there was indeed an ability blocker.
Can't escape, turn you in.
Metal cuffs on your wrists, a collar around your neck, good fighter, good killer, good thing.
"Now get off Sparrow before we chain you to the wall."
Chains clacking and rattling, can't escape this. Metal cuffs locking you in place, can't move can't defend.
"Good." Atlas said as Ranboo flattened himself to the wall.
"Alright, you guys have things to do." Jubilee said.
Get out and forget I did this.
Their eyes glazed over and they walked out.
"Sorry Astin." Jubilee said ruefully.
He took out a container, and opened the lid, pacing towards him.
Ranboo barred his teeth, and Jubilee stopped, closed the container and set it on the ground.
"It's burn cream," he said slowly.
He slid it over to the other side of the room, and sat by the door.
"I kinda was assigned to watch you, so, sorry."
Ranboo sighed, peeling off the tape put over his claws so he could retract them.
"You're kind of like a cat." The Ghost Siren said with a lilt of amusement.
Ranboo huffed, and pulled the mattress over to the corner furthest from the door.
"Except colder than any cat ever, both literally and figuratively."
Ranboo sat on the mattress and glared at Jubilee.
"Y'know the burn cream won't hurt." He said after a while.
Ranboo begrudgingly began applying the burn cream, and Jubilee had to laugh at how the enderian glared at him.
_____________________________
4444 words (not counting this part.)
This Book will take longer to write, so if I don't update soon, that's why. I won't abandon the book, just keep tabs on it.
Also, reason I don't use they/them for Ranboo in this book specifically, is because it's part of the plot that ranboo was referred to as "it" and "they" in the arena, and wants something to tie him to the world. It's his way of un-dehumanizing himself.
I hope that makes sense TwT
Love you all! Have a great day/night friends! 💙💙💙💙💙