Midnight Arson (Platonic! Ranboo x Tubbo)

Chapter 7: The City of Gambling (Part 2)

Ranboo bit back a groan and begrudgingly took the outfit from the other. Their alliance was tenuous as it is- best not to break it over a pile of clothes. The sentient made quick work of changing in the toll booth's office. He soon stood before Fundy, awkwardly donning his new uniform. "How- How do I look?" the being stuttered.

Fundy clasped his hands together and grinned. "Marvelous!" The fox hybrid rushed over to the halfling, and began picking at different parts of the coat. "Does it fit you? Is it too tight? I didn't have your measurements, so I had to guess on everything-"

Ranboo waved his friend off, shaking his head. "No, no. It actually fits pretty well," he assured. "The sleeves are a little on the short side, but that's fine. I'm really impressed, Fundy."

The fox hybrid beamed at the praise. "Thank you, Ranboo. That means a lot." Suddenly, the fox hybrid's arm flew out, his finger pointing towards the city. "Now, let's go catch some dreamons!"

Ranboo would have never guessed that dreamon hunting was so much work. Armed with a dozen eggs and a diamond hoe each, the two boys prowled the city, searching for the notorious shadow beasts. Along the way, Fundy made sure to teach his apprentice the tricks of the trade: use your hoe to carve the impenetrable safety circle, always test the people a suspected dreamon has been in contact with, and make sure to cleanse a humanoid of their dreamon with the proper ritual.

Fundy had carefully described each part of said ritual, from the crooked arch of soil right down to the final chants. But, and the fox hybrid could not stress this enough, the most important part of the ritual was to never, EVER watch the cleansing process. "You might be curious to see a dreamon leaving someone's body," Fundy explained, "and believe me, I was too. But curiosity is a dangerous thing, Ranboo. It can cost lives."

As the two hybrids finished their search of the bank, Ranboo couldn't help but wonder why. Just as the fox hybrid opened the door to exit, he paused. "I know what you're thinking, but don't," the halfling warned. "After the chants are spoken, you turn around and you don't look back, understand?"

"I won't-"

Fundy suddenly whirled around to face his partner, eyes swirling in rage...and a sliver of guilt. "No, you have to swear to me, Ranboo. Swear to me on Tubbo's grave that you won't ever look back." The fox hybrid sighed, his gaze cast down in defeat. "About seven months ago, Tubbo and I went on our last dreamon hunt. Now, keep in mind, this was before Dream was put in prison, but we found out he was possessed by a dreamon. Tubbo and I performed the ritual. Everything was perfect..."

Fundy's breath hitched. "But I looked back too soon. Dream was still mid-exorcism, and his head was spinning around like crazy. TNT started spawning and exploding everywhere. The blast knocked us both off our feet, and-" The fox hybrid placed his hands on Ranboo's shoulders, staring the enderman halfling straight in the eye. "We both nearly died," he said, voice low and solemn. "I woke up to find Tubbo bleeding out from the back of his head. That's why, Ranboo. That's why you never look back."

Ooooh some more dreamon lore back story. These are very dangerous creatures...

Will Ranboo be able to fight one off?? Vote to give him supernatural strength!!

Thank you, my lovelies, for the support on this book! Y'all are wonderful humans. <33

[Image Credits] "carton of eggs" (Cropped Slightly) by jules (https://www.flickr.com/photos/stone-soup/5391327160/)