Midnight Arson (Platonic! Ranboo x Tubbo)

Chapter 22: The Nukes

Long, ebony fingers flew across the keypad of the wall-to-wall computer system. Meanwhile, the creature's ivory right hand pulled down on a nearby lever. Behind the hybrid, two metal plates separated in the floor- a void into the unknown. A robotic hum whirred to life as the tip of a yellow cone peaked just above the surface. His eyes still glowing a brilliant violet, Ranboo turned to gaze at the strange object.

Ranboo knew what this particular weapon was capable of. He had seen the footage and attended the test sites. This one, unassuming rocket had the power to level an entire nation, reducing it to rubble in a matter of seconds. This weapon of mass destruction was the crème de la crème of server warfare, and the pièce de résistance of Snowchester. Yes, this was Tubbo's infamous nuke.

Two more missiles gradually rose from the depths of the Earth, sliding into place next to the first. Finally, in the dimly lit lab, Ranboo was about to see the future in all its glory- all he had to do was activate the nukes. A delicate finger hovered over the lethal button, death and destruction mere millimeters away. He had to do it; he must obey his master. Just as the humanoid's fingertip grazed the button's surface, a panicked thought blared in his mind: DON'T DO IT!!

The urgency in the thought made Ranboo flinch, forcing him to blink back into focus. For a moment, the rhythmic mantra of his dreamon master had been replaced by a voice that was all too familiar...WHAT'RE YOU DOING?! GET BACK!!

Ranboo gasped. Somehow, in the haze of his trance, he had heard himself, his inner voice. Had his consciousness finally broken through his enderwalk? YOU DON'T WANT THIS, RANBOO!! YOU NEVER DID!! It's all a lie, just like the fire.

The violet light emanating from the sentient's eyes flickered. Memories of that night flooded his mind, from the moment he'd awoken in the closet to the second Tubbo had died before him. What had happened in the fire? What did he miss? You never wanted to kill your family, Ranboo, remember? Your master said to live, but you chose death.

The violet suddenly vanished from the hybrid's eyes as he recalled the midnight arson: Ranboo had rebelled.

The single thought that played like a mantra that night had been simple: Set the house and home ablaze. Stack the books to fuel the flames. Ranboo remembered the struggle, his heart screaming for mercy. Deep below the confines of the trance, the humanoid yearned to spare his family, but the compulsion to obey was too great. So, instead, he did the unthinkable: he subverted the action.

Ranboo had tricked his mind into lighting that candle, thus redirecting the lethal act of arson into something helpful. His repressed consciousness had lied, claiming that the candle would burn down to the table and ignite the house. And in the haze of his trance, he'd believed it.

It was fate's cruel design that the sentient had set the house ablaze, but by then, he had stowed himself away in the closet upstairs. The task in his enderwalk journal noted his presence was needed in Las Nevadas, but Ranboo's heart was needed in The Syndicate. In a final act of reshaping his thoughts, his consciousness had convinced his enderwalk self to wait out the fire, just to see his goal complete.

Ranboo nearly fell to his knees in relief as his saving grace finally dawned on him: he could break his trance. Filled to the brim with excitement, the humanoid raised his fists into the air, and let out a loud whoop in celebration. He laughed with joy; at last, he had hope. He could end this war before it'd even begun.