Midnight Arson (Platonic! Ranboo x Tubbo)

Chapter 27: The Hunt (Part 2)

"Ranboo!!"

Sapnap, who had been mere steps from the accident, crouched down to tend to his injured friend. Unfortunately, this left Eret open for attack.

A stray dreamon floated up from the floorboards on the opposite side of the bed, looming ever so close to the frightened monarch. "You're no king, Eret," the vile being hissed. "You earned that throne through blood and betrayal. You're a fraud."

Eret screwed his eyes shut, and shook his head vehemently. "No. No! I'm a good king! I- I look after my people! I'm doing my best!"

The dreamon cackled in malicious delight. "You're just the same as Dream- ambitious for power, hungry enough to kill. You wicked, evil soul."

"No! No!! NOOOO!!"

Tubbo thrust his hoe through the heart of another wretched creature when Eret's pleas reached his ears. The president took a step back to approach the bed, but another dreamon jumped to block his path. "Sapnap!! What're you doing?!" Tubbo yelled. "Get back to Eret!!"

"I can't!" the hunter hollered. Sapnap ran his hoe through a dreamon as he ducked under the reach of another. "Ranboo's down! They're everywhere!!"

Tubbo swore. They were running out of options, and they were running out of time. If he could just plow through this dreamon, then maybe he could save Eret before the monarch was possessed.

The screams from Eret's side of the room grew louder and louder with each passing second. The king choked on a sob, tears running down his face. He felt so alone, lost in a sea of worries threatening to drown him. Who could save him now?

Tendrils of black smoke curled through the air, piercing the air in search of its target. With a sudden rush of dark energy, the being rushed up Eret's nose and plunged down his throat. The monarch choked on the foul beast, his lungs burning with acid. He gasped for even a sliver of air, but found none. Eret felt himself grow weaker and weaker as the poisonous gas continued to bombard his system. He raised his bloodshot eyes to face the soulless void of the dreamon, silently begging to be released. "Please...Please...Have mercy-"

Thwack!

An echoing howl rang throughout the room as the dreamon jerked itself away from its human host-to-be. Someone had thrown an egg at it, causing the creature to glitch during its possession of the king. The being whirled around, fully intent on destroying whoever had interrupted it. There, in the doorway, stood the fearsome warrior piglin, a tell-tale smirk plastered on his visage. "You didn't think the Blood God would really sit this one out, now, did you?"

The creature screamed, ripping its soul from Eret's body as it charged its newfound enemy. Techno crossed the short distance, launched himself off a foot stool, and swung his hoe down through the monster. The beast writhed in pain, and then, with a puff of smoke, it vanished. Techno huffed out a laugh; that'd been a lot easier than he thought.

Moving on to more important matters, the piglin rushed to the king's side. "Eret? Hey, buddy, you alright?" The monarch lay unconscious on the bedspread, his breathing shallow and quick. Techno moved to check the man's pulse, and hummed. Well, he thought, at least he's got a pulse. He'll be fine.