Chapter 1: C!Ranboo 1
Chapter Text
Ranboo is in a bed. Which is strange, because that shouldn’t be possible. The bit of grass he’s been stuck on for who knows how long at this point is barely big enough to sit on, much less fit a bed. He reaches out blindly, feeling with his hand, and sure enough there’s sheets, a blanket, a pillow under his head. And he can’t hear water anymore.
Where the hell is he?
Cautiously, he opens his eyes, and he’s met with stone. The whole room is stone except for the bed and a closet that he can see off to the side. It almost looks like a cave. But why is he in a cave? And whose house is this? It can’t be his, unless he’s forgotten that much. Wouldn’t there be something around that looks familiar, though? And nothing here looks like anything that he would own. When he finally sits up, even the bed looks fancier than anything he’d ever own. Which has to mean that this isn’t his bed, and this isn’t his home.
The realization that he’s in a strangers home with no idea how he got there is alarming enough to make him jump out of the bed, but as it is when his body jerks at the fear of getting caught somewhere he definitely shouldn’t be, a soreness deep in his bones makes itself known, and he has to force himself to move gently when he has another realization.
He’s alive. He can feel himself breathing now, which feels strange after not doing for so long. He touches his face, only to pull them back immediately as if he’s been burned. But that can only be a comparison, because there’s no evidence he’s ever been burned at all. His face is smooth, and when he looks down at his hands, there are no scars there, either. He runs his fingers across every piece of exposed skin he can see, and it’s like he’s in a completely new body, with no scratches or marks anywhere.
With shaky hands, he reaches under the front of his shirt and carefully presses his palms against his chest. Nothing. No scratch, no scar, no scab, no rough, textured skin. It’s as if for some reason he’s been given a brand new start, and he doesn’t know why. He shakes his head to himself. He can think about that later. Right now he has other things to worry about.
When he does finally stand, he’s relieved to see that he’s in his own clothes. At the moment, he’s glad he stopped wearing full suits and dressed it down to just nice pants and a nice shirt, because a jacket would definitely be more uncomfortable right now.
He shuffles out of the room, curiously looking around to see if he can find the person who owns the house. If he can explain that he doesn’t know how he got here before they discover him on their own and freak out, maybe they won’t be as mad. He’ll basically be turning himself in. Not that that worked well for him the last time–
Upon further exploration, it’s clear that the entire home has been either built into a pre-existing cave or was dug into the side of a mountain because the ceilings, floors, and walls are all stone, and all the doors are different colored curtains. Except for the front door, which he finds to be a regular door made out of wood. It’s also clear that he’s the only one here at the moment, because he never finds anyone else during his careful wandering around the house. There aren’t even any pictures hanging up to give a hint as to who might live here.
Well, he’s awake, and if he leaves now (after remaking the bed, because that would just be rude to sleep in someone else’s bed and then leave it messy) then maybe the homeowner will never know he was here. And maybe there’s someone he can find who can tell him where he is and maybe how he got there.
The sun is blinding when he steps outside, and really it has been a while since he’s seen the sun. That, and the cave house has absolutely no windows in it, only many different lamps and light fixtures to make sure you can see. It also doesn’t look like he’s anywhere that he would know. Maybe he has been here before and he just doesn’t remember. Wherever he is, it’s a large field, and he can see a few clusters of flowers scattered around. There aren’t any other homes in the immediate vicinity, so he has to guess the homeowner likes to be secluded.
Which isn’t a great thought to have, considering there’s the very real possibility the homeowner themself brought him all the way out here to do who knows what where nobody would see.
He can’t really see any buildings around, either. Is he in any kind of civilization? Maybe he’s close to one. A village, maybe, that he just has to walk to. If he only knew which direction he’s supposed to go. It seems the only option is to just pick one and start walking and hope he makes it somewhere before it gets dark, however long it will take for that to happen. It’s the only thing he can think to do, so he takes a deep breath, picks a direction, and starts walking.
He’s thankful he didn’t wake up in the snow somewhere. He doesn’t have anything to protect against it, and having to walk through inches of it would not be fun. As it is, the grass here comes up to his ankles, his feet only disappearing for a moment until the grass is flattened by his shoes. There aren’t either trees, either, which would be helpful if it starts raining. And now he has a new fear. He’s newly alive, and if it just so happens to rain while he’s out here, he’s done for.
The thought causes him to pick up the pace as much as he can with his legs still feeling sore, and the combination of pain, distracting thoughts, and slightly tall grass makes it to where he almost steps on something. Or, someone? It must be someone, with the way they shout, startling him.
“Hey watch where you’re walking, asshole!”
He immediately freezes in place, looking around for who he almost ran into. For a moment he doesn’t see anything, and then there’s the smallest amount of pressure on his shoe that makes him look down to see the tiniest person he’s ever seen climbing up.
“Oh my god!” he exclaims. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t see you. Are you okay?”
To his surprise, the small person laughs.
“Wow! Actually apologizing for once. Is today opposite day or something?”
It’s said sarcastically, like this is something he usually doesn’t apologize for, which confuses him. It’s also confusing because the guy says this as if they’ve spoken before, which Ranboo definitely cannot remember. At least he’s managed to get over the embarrassment of asking people who they are over the years, but he’s still caught off guard.
“I-I’m sorry, do I know you?”
The person grunts as he pulls himself to his feet, holding onto Ranboo’s shoelaces to help balance, and it’s now that Ranboo can see what he is. He almost looks like a bug, only about the size of an insect, with blue and white patterned skin, a pair of blue, transparent wings, and tiny antennas on his head. Ranboo definitely can’t remember seeing someone like him before.
Little bug guy scoffs. “Did you hit your head or something? Yeah, you know who–”
He cuts himself off when he finally looks up. Ranboo can just barely make out that he looks confused, so he carefully gets down to be on one knee so they can see each other better. Bug guy seems extra confused by this, and stares at him. “Wait, who the fuck are you?”
Okay, so Ranboo doesn’t know this person. He guesses he was being mistaken for someone else. Another enderman? Are there other endermen here? Anyway, at least he can go through introductions without feeling weird about it. Or weirder than normal.
“I’m Ranboo. I–can you tell me where I am? I don’t, I don’t know what’s going on.”
Somehow, bug guy looks like he doesn’t believe him, and this is apparent by the up and down look he gives, like he’s looking for some hidden trick. It appears he doesn’t find whatever he’s looking before because he pulls back, crossing his arms over his chest.
“Your name is Ranboo?” he asks, like he needs clarification. For what, Ranboo doesn’t know, but he nods. “Huh, guess not all Ranboos are rude as shit.”
“Thanks? I guess?” Ranboo says, equal parts shocked and confused.
“I’m Sneeg,” bug guy finally introduces. “You’re in Origins right now. Or well, the very edge of it at least. Not that many people out here.”
Ranboo racks his brain, trying to see if he’s ever heard of that name before. It doesn’t sound familiar, but maybe he can find out what other places he’s closer to, he can figure out how to get home from here.
“I don’t think I’ve heard of this place before. Where exactly are we in the Greater Esempi?”
Sneeg cocks his head. “Greater–what? Is that where you’re from? Because I’ve never heard of that.”
Ranboo’s stomach drops. Oh god, how far away from home is he that Sneeg doesn’t know what he’s talking about? Maybe there’s a map somewhere he can look at, something where he can point out Snowchester so someone can tell him how to get there. Then again, it wouldn’t be out of the ordinary for the universe to pull a sick joke on him and put him as far away from home as possible after reviving him. It would be just his luck.
Sneeg has continued talking to himself, wondering about where on earth Ranboo is from, but Ranboo is too busy spiraling to hear most of the comments until Sneeg asks “How did you get here?”
“I don’t know.” He admits sheepishly. Sneeg looks at him, unimpressed.
“Like, ‘you were walking around and got here but you didn’t follow any directions’ don’t know or-?”
“I woke up maybe thirty minutes ago in a random house and I can’t remember how I got there.”
With the looks he’s giving him, Sneeg definitely thinks he got blackout drunk and somehow broke into someone’s house. Which Ranboo knows for a fact is something he would never do, for multiple reasons.
“. . .Right. Uh. Okay. Here’s what we’ll do.” At that, Sneeg starts climbing up Ranboo’s pant leg, stopping when he reaches his knee. Now, even closer, Ranboo would guess that he’s probably three inches tall. He pushes at Ranboo’s hand until he flips it over, palm up, and then climbs on. When Ranboo doesn’t do anything, he starts gesturing for Ranboo to pick him up and stand up, which Ranboo does with a start, holding his other hand up to make sure he doesn’t drop him. “I’m gonna take you to talk to someone who should be more help than me, his name is Philza–”
“Phil’s here?” Ranboo interrupts, ears perking up and almost dropping Sneeg. Maybe he’s closer to home than he thought. Maybe Phil was off on some mission somewhere, and Ranboo had managed to be dropped in the same place. He can help fix all of this and get him home. Sneeg looks surprised.
“You know Phil?”
He nods. “Yes, but I haven’t seen him in a long, long time.”
Sneeg throws his arms up in disbelief. “Well, shit, maybe he has something to do with why you’re here. Maybe send him a message and let him know you’re here.”
Oh, right. That sounds like a good idea. He reaches down to his pockets, and is shocked to find that they’re empty. No comm, no totems. . .no books. He doesn’t have any of his memory books.
“I don’t have. . .” He stutters out. Everything he could remember from his life was in those books, all the little details he never wanted to forget. They’re gone.
What has he already lost since waking up that he doesn’t know about?
Surely Phil can help. Phil can help jog his memory, or just tell him things he can’t remember, maybe get Tubbo–
“Damn, it’s like you were literally just picked up and dropped here,” Sneeg says with a whistle, interrupting his thoughts. “Do you have anything with you?”
Ranboo shakes his head. “Just what I’m wearing.”
Sneeg sighs, and then gets a determined look on his face. “Okay, we’ll get that figured out. Hopefully. Let’s just go talk to Phil and see if he can help.”
With Sneeg giving directions from his seat on his hand, Ranboo starts walking deeper into Origins.
Chapter 2: O!Ranboo 1
Notes:
So uh I realized that if I only posted a chapter every week then we'd reach the end really close to christmas. . .
And I don't know about you but I don't want to wait that long to get finished with this LMAO so we're moving up to two updates a week yippee!
Chapter Text
It’s way too cold to get out of bed right now. Not that mornings usually aren’t cold, because that’s what you get with living in a cave, but they’re usually more bearable than this. The fire he lit probably went out, which of course it did. Which, really none of this would be happening if someone had just built him a house when he told them to, but no, they told him to do it himself like he’s someone who works. That had just left him to find a cave and make it livable because what else was he supposed to do, manual labor?
Absolutely not.
Whatever. He’ll restart the fire when he gets up, which is not what he plans to do right now. The bed is comfortable, and if he pulls the blankets around himself tighter that should be able to fight off the cold–
Wait. Why is he in bed? Last he remembers, he was at his portal, tinkering with something. How did he get back? It’d be unusual for him to forget that.
Ranboo opens his eyes and sits up, and then freezes. This is absolutely not his cave. There’s a window, firstly, but also terrible decorations that he would never choose. Ever. Whoever lives here has terrible taste. But how did he even get here? And where is ‘here’ exactly?
He needs to figure this out. Thankfully when he gets out of the bed, he’s still in his clothes. At least whatever brought him here didn’t mess with that. Appearances are important, and he dresses like this for a reason. The room is weirdly dusty as he goes over to the window, having to step around a few chests that look like they haven’t been opened in years. Ranboo can’t imagine how someone could live like this.
Strangely, the window is slightly frosted over, so he has to strain a bit to see out of it. It looks like on the outside of the window is a flower box, with tulips? It’s hard to see, but that’s what he thinks is there, anyway. Aside from that, it doesn’t look like there’s anything outside. Well, no, that’s a lie, he can see parts of some hills, but there’s no grass. And barely any trees. Everything is just white. He lets out a huff of frustration when he realizes what it is.
Snow. So. Much. Snow. Whoever put him here, he’s going to kill them. Maybe not actually, but he definitely feels angry enough right now. This has to be some kind of prank. Someone knocked him out and sent him off somewhere super far away to where it’s cold enough to snow, and now he has to figure out where he is and how to get back. Great. It’s not like he was working on anything important or something.
Alright, here’s what he’ll do. Step one is get out of this house. Step two is message Phil and try to see what his coordinates are. Maybe with Phil’s help, he’ll be able to at least get pointed in the right direction. Maybe he can find some materials to make a portal to get back quicker. Whatever, that bridge will be crossed when he gets to it.
He discovers that the lower floor of this house is even uglier than the one he woke up on. There’s a weird red and green color scheme, and honestly, the shades clash and don’t match each other at all. How the person who lives here manages to look at it at all is a mystery. Which, speaking of, he hasn’t run into the owner of the house. So they’re either not here, or they’re hiding from him. He’s not sure which one is a more favorable situation. There aren’t many clues about who lives here, either. There’s no pictures, barely any trinkets or things around the space. There seem to be more chests than anything, so maybe this is more of a storage building.
That option flies away as soon as he almost steps on a black cat, who hisses at him and then glares up with very bright green eyes. It seems they both startle each other, because they both freeze and just look at each other. Someone must live here then, if there’s a cat. It even has a collar on, and, now that he’s actively looking, he can see food and water bowls off to the side in what looks to be a kitchen area. On the counter is a bag that’s been tipped onto its side, and he can see a few pieces of cat food that have fallen out.
Clearly the cat’s owner doesn’t do a good job of putting the food away. He could go clean it up, but it’s not his cat, and he really couldn’t care less. Especially since said cat clearly doesn’t like him. It keeps hissing at him and backing away like he did something to it. Whatever. He doesn’t have time to worry about an animal.
Going outside immediately proves to be a mistake, because his foot sinks through at least five inches of snow, soaking his shoes in a matter of seconds. And it’s freezing. Which, duh, seems obvious considering he’s already established that it snows here, but still! He’s not exactly dressed for the weather. None of his clothes are a heavy material, and it’s not like he was expecting to be somewhere so cold. But now he’s extra pissed, because if someone did this to him like a prank, they absolutely went too far. He could probably push this to be seen as endangerment if he wants to, and he’s definitely willing to.
The good thing, though, is that when he steps outside, there’s a house nearby. So even though he might be completely frozen when he gets there, it looks like there are people he can question on where he is and if they had anything to do with bringing him here.
He kicks up snow as he goes, which only serves to make his clothes damp, and damnit, he’s going to have to deal with burns later. At least they’re not on his face, which he’s worked hard at keeping scar-free. Maybe whoever is at this house will have a potion he can use. He can hear dogs as he gets closer, and the house is actually bigger than he first thought. It’s styled more like a cabin, but it almost looks like two of them attached together. Not what he would have personally picked to live in, but it isn’t terrible. He’d even consider it respectable. As he trudges closer, arms wrapped around himself tightly, there’s a small stable attached to the side, and he can see a few horses inside. Actually, there are people there, too, and they must have just gotten back from somewhere.
One of them is someone he definitely doesn’t know. It’s a piglin, tall to the point where his head is almost touching the roof of the stables. Possibly taller than Ranboo, but who knows (it would be a first, that’s for sure). He’s bundled up in cloaks and fur, and he has a few pieces of jewelry, what looks to be earrings, dangling down. The strangest thing about this person is that he has a crown on his head. Ranboo can only assume that this house belongs to him, but if he’s royalty, shouldn’t he be living somewhere much more grandiose? Why is he letting himself live in the middle of nowhere in what is comparatively a shack in regards to what he should have.
The other person looks more familiar, somehow. Green clothes, a green striped hat, blond hair, large black wings on his back. Ranboo lets out a sigh of relief. It’s Phil. Phil had followed him when he was being brought out here, and he just happened to bring someone he’s never seen before to help take him back. Phil will know who did this to him, and Phil will be able to get him back home.
Or, well, back to Origins.
And surely this other person, who he can only assume is royalty of some nature, will feel some connection to him and decide to help out, too.
Chapter 3: C!Ranboo 2
Chapter Text
The further they walk, the more houses Ranboo starts to see. None of them are big fancy things, mostly a collection of cabins and cottages, and as they reach their destination, two of them are floating up in the sky. Which is something he can say for sure that he’s never seen before. The one that Sneeg directs them to has a ladder leading down from it. Apparently, from what he understands from the explanation Sneeg gives, it’s like their community house, only they call it the Pub. It definitely looks cozier than the community house ever did, looking more like an actual house with a pitched roof and some plants scattered around on the section of dirt the building is floating on.
Ranboo doesn’t know how it works, and doesn’t ask.
Phil is apparently inside, and according to Sneeg it’s where he can usually be found doing ‘Phil Stuff’, which Sneeg does not elaborate on. When they reach the bottom of the ladder, Sneeg shimmies up onto his shoulder and grabs on to a tiny fistful of hair to make sure he doesn’t fall.
“Are you able to teleport with other people? Our guy can’t, or at least he won’t.”
He must be talking about whoever he mistook Ranboo for at first, and it definitely sounds like whoever he is, he’s an enderman as well. A full enderman, at that, considering the fact that he can actually teleport. Ranboo goes to shake his head, but stops before he accidentally sends Sneeg flying.
“I can’t teleport.”
“What?” Sneeg sounds surprised. “But aren’t you an enderman?”
“Technically I’m only half.”
“Oh. Cool. That actually makes sense with your whole black and white thing. What’s the other half?”
“Don’t know.”
“Geez, there’s a lot you apparently don’t know,” Sneeg mutters under his breath, only legible from how close he is to Ranboo’s ear. “Well, guess we’re climbing then.”
From the way he says it, Ranboo almost expects the climb to be long or difficult. It’s actually neither, but he supposes for Sneeg it’s different with how small he is. And it does look like he can fly, but even then that might be too slow for what he wants.
When they get to the top, it’s revealed that the building is made up of a lot of different materials and not just wood, which is what Ranboo originally thought when looking at it from a distance. Among the different colored wood are scattered pieces of blackstone and some kind of white material, and he can also see that some of the plants actually climb up the side of the building as well. He’s still looking around at the outside when Sneeg suddenly flies off of his shoulder and towards the door, going through a much smaller door that’s been attached near the top, presumably made just for him. He doesn’t look back or give a heads up to follow, and it has Ranboo scrambling to keep up.
He’s surprised to see that the interior is mostly an open layout. There’s a bar off to one corner, some barrels, a few doors to the side, a wall of chests labelled with different names, and strangely next to that wall is a giant water tank. He’s going to stay away from that if he can.
Sneeg again doesn’t pause when Ranboo looks around and goes straight to one of the side doors, scaling it surprisingly easily up to another small door. This time he stops on the small platform under it and gets Ranboo’s attention, beckoning him over. When Ranboo is close enough, Sneeg opens the smaller door.
“PHIL,” he shouts, and then launches himself into the room. Ranboo can hear him still talking, although now it’s a bit muffled. “We got a situation, old man.”
Ranboo opens the door, and is immediately hit with a wave of heat. When he steps inside, it’s apparent it’s coming from a lava pool off to the side, which is surrounded by netherrack. The other wall is lined with brewing stands and chests labelled with different ingredients. Standing in the middle of the room is a nether portal, and Ranboo is surprised when some of the particles floating around it zoom over to him and circle around him. He had forgotten they tickled a bit.
And standing near the potions, where Sneeg has drifted over to, is Phil. Just the sight of his hat, hair, and wings fills him with so much relief. And then Phil turns around.
That is not his Phil.
This Phil is much more bird-like. He has more feathers, for one thing, covering his arms, legs, neck, even small parts of his face. And his feet are actual bird claws. It’s a far cry from the basically human man with wings on his back that Ranboo is used to. All he can do is stand there in shock, and when Phil spots him, he looks just as confused. Sneeg looks back and forth between the two of them before stopping on Ranboo and joining in their confusion.
“I thought you said you knew him?” he asks, and Ranboo shakes his head.
“No, um, my Phil is less. . .bird.”
The phrasing makes this Phil raise an eyebrow. “What’s going on?”
“I found him out near Ranboo’s house, and turns out his name is also Ranboo.” Sneeg explains. “And he has no idea how he got here and doesn’t know where ‘here’ is. He thought you two knew each other, but I guess you don’t-?”
Phil looks him over thoughtfully. “Well, you’re definitely not our Ranboo, that’s for sure.” He turns to Sneeg. “Did you happen to see him anywhere?”
“Who, ours? Nah, but it’s not like I was looking for the guy.”
Phil hums, then looks back at Ranboo. “Can you remember anything before you got here?” Ranboo gets fidgety at that, and Phil notices because he visibly softens. “You don’t have to tell us if you’re uncomfortable, I just wonder if it would help us figure out how to get you back to wherever you were if we know where you started.”
Ranboo definitely does not want to go back to where he was before this, but surely Phil doesn’t mean to send him back there. Although, this is clearly a completely different Phil, so Ranboo can’t trust any of his prior thoughts of him. But he also knows that he has a point, and there have been times that saying things out loud has triggered more memories, so it’s possible this could help.
“I was, well, I was on a chunk of land floating over an endless sea, trapped for. . .I actually don’t know how long. Probably years.” He pauses to think. “I believe there was also a tree, because sometimes it rained but I don’t remember getting hurt.”
Sneeg and Phil just stare at him. For quite a while, actually, to the point where Ranboo starts fidgeting with his sleeve and his tail starts shifting nervously.
“What the fuck?” Sneeg finally says.
“That sounds like an impossible place to be. How on earth did you get there? And why did no one come and save you?” Phil asked, sounding a mix of amazed and horrified.
Oh boy, here he goes.
“I was dead.”
Phil, to his credit, doesn’t have much of a reaction other than getting that thoughtful look on his face again. Sneeg looks like he’s buffering.
“Ah,” Phil replies, “then you’re definitely not from this world. Where are you from again?”
“You were dead?! How are you here??” Sneeg all but screeches before he can answer Phil’s question. Ranboo shrugs.
“I have no idea. One minute I was there, the next I was waking up back in that cave. Oh, and I’m from the Greater Esempi, Snowchester specifically if that sounds more familiar-?” The last part is directed towards Phil, who nods a bit.
“Vaguely. It sounds like someone decided to bring you back to life and got your universe mixed up with ours.” He rubs at his chin, thinking. “Do we know for sure that our Ranboo is still here?”
There’s silence between the three of them until Sneeg pipes up “I think you’re the only one who can check that.”
“Right, right. Give me a second.”
It’s like Phil fazes out, to where you can only see a faint outline of him. Sneeg doesn’t seem that put off by this, but Ranboo finds himself taking a slight step back. Does this mean that Phil is the admin of this place? Should he be acting more respectful? Should he have even told him that he was dead? Before he can spiral on it any further, Phil pops back in, looking like he did just a moment ago. He sighs, adjusting his hat. “Like I thought. He’s not here.”
“You think we switched places somehow?” Ranboo asks, trying to understand what Phil is saying. “What would cause that to happen?”
“Our Ranboo likes to mess around with portals and see what the farthest distance he can go at once is,” he explains. “It’s possible something weird happened that sent him to your universe when you were being revived, but when your world suddenly had a Ranboo again, it sent you here to take his place.”
“Is it possible to switch us back?”
“Maybe. I’ll have to look into it.”
At that, Phil moves past them and goes back into the main area of the pub, Sneeg and Ranboo following behind. Phil makes his way over to the barrels and starts digging through a few of them, pulling out different books and putting some back while keeping others.
“Sneeg, I’d like it if you helped, since sometimes you’re able to see things I don’t.” He says, and Sneeg suddenly appears on top of a barrel, grinning mischievously.
“Hell yeah, I’m always ready for a mission.”
“What do I need to do?” Ranboo asks, standing a few steps from them so that he isn’t in the way. He’s never been the best with this sort of stuff, but he’s willing to try if it means there’s a bigger chance of him making it home.
Which that’s a whole new can of worms. He’s not just in a different place, but in a different world? How different even is it here? So far gravity and such has stayed the same, but he didn’t know portals could be messed with to do crazy stuff. He didn’t even know travelling between worlds was possible until now!
Can messages be sent? Would he be able to use some device to let everyone back home know he’s okay? That he’s trying to come back? That he misses them?
“I think it would be best for you to be distracted with something else,” Phil says. “I’d hate for something to go wrong while you’re here.”
Ranboo doesn’t even try to argue. “O-Okay.”
“That doesn’t mean I’ll leave you to your own devices in a strange place, though. I’ll have some people, Tommy and Tubbo, come stay with you, maybe show you around so you’ll feel more comfortable.”
Ranboo instantly perks up at that. “There’s a Tubbo and Tommy here, too?”
It’s been so long since he’s seen anything related to either one of them, and now he’s been told that this world has their own versions. Of course, he has to remember that they won’t be the same as the ones that he’s used to if Phil is anything to go by, but it’s still a crumb of something he’s been missing. He’ll just. . .have to remind himself that this isn’t his Tubbo. Which will be fine.
Sneeg and Phil don’t seem to catch the excitement in his reaction.
“Is that okay?” Phil asks slowly.
“Yeah! Yeah, that’s fine,” he answers too quickly. This just gets him more confused looks, and he sighs, fidgeting with his hands now. “I just, I haven’t seen mine in a really long time.”
A look of understanding, and then pity comes across his face. Sneeg looks to be having the same realization, and then has a much bigger reaction as he has another realization.
“Wait a second, how come I’m the only one your world doesn’t have? Why don’t I have a duplicate?” he demands, and Phil laughs. Really, Ranboo has been wondering the same thing. He’ll have to ask around and see what the differences are, because he hasn’t seen a Techno in this world, who he would have assumed would be with Phil.
Phil sets one last book on the pile he’s been making and then looks at Sneeg.
“Why don’t you take it as you being one of a kind,” he suggests.
Sneeg looks at him suspiciously, then appears to be contemplating the idea very seriously.
“Y’know what, I’ll accept that.”
Chapter Text
Phil and the piglin don’t notice him as he approaches, which is kinda crazy considering how loud his footsteps are through the snow. Like, seriously, if someone was trying to sneak up on him while walking through this, he’s pretty confident he’d hear them. And he’s not even trying to be sneaky, so this is just poor observation on their part.
After much more trudging than he would have liked, he gets close enough to them that surely they can hear him, disregarding the fact that he's practically right behind them.
He huffs. “Phil, thank god. Do you–”
Before he can finish, a sword is pointing at his throat. Phil (does he look different?) has spun around into a defensive stance, sword held steady and a hair’s breadth away from actually piercing any skin. The piglin has also turned around, but stands much more casually, although he makes no move to hide the fact that he’s holding a very powerful looking axe at his side, ready should he need it.
Startled, Ranboo freezes, hands instinctively raising up, which he immediately regrets because now he’s lost whatever small amount of warmth he had given himself. This is very, very strange. He didn’t know Phil was this jumpy.
“Who are you,” Phil demands, as serious as Ranboo’s ever seen him, and that’s even more confusing. And a little insulting.
“Excuse me?” He responds, incredulous, and Phil just tightens his hold on the sword.
“Who are you,” he repeats. “How did you find us.”
Ranboo makes a face. “What are you talking about? You know who I am.”
“Are you sure you don’t know this guy?” the piglin suddenly asks. “Did you forget? You are getting kinda old–”
“Shh!” Phil cuts him off exasperatedly. The piglin just hums and shrugs. Phil glares at him, and then fixes Ranboo with a stern look. “Name.”
Ranboo sighs. If Phil really wants to hear his title and all, he supposes he can oblige. And maybe it will help clue in the piglin since it appears he misplaced his crown. Someone probably took it from him when they dumped him here, the bastards.
He stands up a bit taller. “Prince Ranboo of the End,” he announces. “And you’re Phil,” he adds, in case Phil forgot that, too.
Which, actually, now that he’s really looking, Phil is. . .different. Very different. He’s lost a lot of his bird features. Really, he just looks like a human that has bird wings on their back. Like Tommy, only with black wings instead of white. It’s weird seeing him with such a human face. But he can question him on his appearance after he figures out where he is and what happened.
Strangely, when he says his name both Phil and the piglin inhale sharply. Phil actually lowers the sword slightly, and looks at him much more intently than before. Normally Ranboo would love this kind of attention, but this time it feels less admiringly done and more like he’s being analyzed. Like he’s some sort of strange bug. Like Sneeg.
Now it’s the piglin’s turn to look cautious, and where Phil lowers his sword, his axe raises that same amount. Phil still looks stunned.
“Ranboo-?” he breathes out, and that’s definitely the weirdest response to his name he’s ever gotten. He looks like he wants to say more, but can’t, so the piglin takes over.
“How did you find us?”
Find them? What, like they were hidden? He literally just looked outside of the building he was in and saw them. If they’re hiding out, they’re not doing a great job at it.
“I walked over here.” The piglin looks at him, very unimpressed, and he huffs. “Listen, all I know is I woke up in that house over there,” he points at it, “and here I am. I don’t even know where ‘here’ is.” He turns in a circle dramatically, because what else is he supposed to do in this situation? Phil is still, well, now it looks like he’s staring off into space, and the more Ranboo looks at his different appearance the more unsettled he gets. “Also, Phil, you look very different. What’s up with that? And who is this?” He points at the piglin, who now looks confused.
“What? What do you mean you woke up in that house?”
Ranboo sighs. Apparently neither of them know how to listen. “I mean I woke up in that house. I–okay, yes I was messing around with a portal again, so maybe that has something to do with why I’m here, but I still think it’s possible this is all a prank, and I want to know who’s responsible. I’m freezing, my clothes are getting wet, and I do not appreciate any of this,” he finished, crossing his arms. And what if he’s pouting? He deserves to!
Phil has some kind of reaction to the mention of portals, and then looks like he’s mentally debating something. Whatever he decides on, he lowers his sword fully, and hums thoughtfully. The piglin turns his attention towards him.
“So you don’t know this guy?”
Phil shakes his head. “No.”
“. . .Right. How does he know you?”
He glances back and forth between Ranboo and the piglin. “. . .I might have an idea. Come with us.”
Without another word, he turns and makes his way up the steps to the front door of one of the houses, the piglin following without hesitation. Ranboo does hesitate. Clearly something is going on, something different from what he originally thought, and he’s not too sure he wants to follow what he’s realizing are probably complete strangers into a random building.
But it’s also his chance to get somewhere warm and not risk the chance of getting any more burns. The two are entering the building when he scrambles to follow after them.
***
“So what you’re saying,” Ranboo says, sitting on a couch in a room that is, frankly, smothered in crows, “is that I fucked up a portal? I don’t know, that doesn’t sound like me.”
One of the crows jumps off of its perch, making Ranboo flinch, and flies over to Phil and lands on the brim of his hat. Phil doesn’t pay it any mind, focusing on one of the books currently in his lap that he had grabbed when he first sat down. The piglin, who Ranboo has since learned is named Techno (and is not royalty; that had been a very awkward conversation, learning where his crown came from), is scanning through a bookshelf. One of the crows is perched on his shoulder, but he also says nothing about it.
Phil snorts at his comment. “Well, not ‘fucked up’ per se, but you definitely did something to it to change where it connected to.”
“Is that even possible?”
Now, it’s not that he didn’t think it was impossible. He’s just never thought about it on this scale. All he was trying to do was extend the reach of a normal portal, and even then it was supposed to lead to somewhere still in his world. Not an entirely new one where the trip knocked him out in the process.
Phil shrugs. “Up until this point? Really only in theory. So I have no idea what you did to make you end up here.”
Ranboo huffs and sinks back into the couch. “Well. Isn’t that great. And ‘here’ is-?”
Really, how many times is he going to have to ask this question to get an answer? It’s literally been his only question, even before knowing that he wouldn’t be able to just walk back to his cave. And his annoyance only grows when Phil grins.
“My house,” he replies, not looking up from his book but still laughing at the reaction Ranboo has. “But outside of that, we’re in the greater Esempi. Not really in any town or city or anything. It’s just us out here, which is why we were so startled to see you.”
Finally a normal answer. And it’s one that makes sense, too. Not that he’s ever heard of this palace, but having a name for it makes him feel more secure. It strangely makes everything feel more real as well.
“O-kay. . .So if you live here, and I’m assuming Techno lives in the connected house-?” He continues after Techno confirms it. “Who lives in the one I woke up in?”
It’s a normal enough question, he thinks. I mean, surely it’s not some empty house that they just have. Especially only putting a single cat in it by itself. And whoever this person is, he has some decorating tips for.
Unexpectedly, both Phil and Techno get quiet. It’s like they freeze in place, holding their breath. The crows are still moving, because they’re animals, of course they’re going to move, only now it feels like every single one is staring at him. Like he shouldn’t have asked that question, like it’s something he shouldn’t know. But when he looks at the two of them, they just look sad. Deeply, deeply sad.
And then hesitantly, they start moving again, completely ignoring his question as Techno awkwardly clears his throat and Phil flips through a few pages in a book.
“I think we’ll be able to get you back,” he says, clearing his throat as well, “but I don’t know how long it will take. It’s probably going to use a lot of redstone.”
Well that was very strange. And intriguing. When people don’t want him to know something, that makes him want to know about it even more. And besides, not knowing something lets him make all kinds of assumptions, which never goes in that person’s favor. But he’ll restrain himself for now if not for the simple fact that the main focus is fixing a portal to get him back.
“Do you know how to use redstone?” he asks, and maybe it comes out more condescending than he planned for it to. Not that he knows anything about redstone, but if these are the people he’s putting his trust into, they need to know what they’re doing.
“Some,” Phil says. “Techno’s better at it than I am.”
Said man is in the process of pulling out his comm (and damnit, where did Ranboo’s comm go? Surely it went through the portal with him), typing away at it. “We should probably ask Tubbo if he can help, if he’s not busy.”
Phil hums in agreement. “Yeah, that’s a good idea. Just tell him to come over any time.”
Tubbo? Tubbo? The one who constantly makes his life hell? Ignoring the fact that Ranboo usually starts it, Tubbo never listens to him! Ever! He’s the one who first publicly embarrassed him by saying he didn’t know who Ranboo was, and then when Ranboo insults him, he doesn’t get the hint to leave him alone.
Ranboo just tries to live his life as normally as he can while being away from the End; he has an image to uphold after all, a strict way he has to act and dress and present himself. All of this done for a reason and Tubbo just finds an excuse to shit on it all the time just because he can’t handle it whenever Ranboo tells him something true about himself. Always calling Ranboo rude when he’s just telling the truth. And now there’s another one of him here.
“God, there’s a Tubbo in this world too?”
The disdain in his voice actually seems to surprise Phil, and he looks up from his book confused. “Yes-? I would think there are doubles of everyone, but I don’t know for sure.”
“And you have to bring him onto this project?” When Phil takes too long to respond, he sighs and pinches the bridge of his nose. “Is he even going to be capable of doing this?”
In his shock, Phil laughs. It’s so quick and short it’s like it was pulled out of him without any warning, and he sets his books on a nearby table. Seemingly all of the crows fly over to the side of the room that Phil is in, perching on his chair, his hat, his shoulders, leaving Ranboo’s side completely bare. Techno just snorts into the cup of tea that Ranboo has only just now noticed he has. Phil, not bothered by the crows at all, clasps his hands together.
“Okay, I don’t know what your deal is with your Tubbo, but this is a different one. And if we’re lucky, he’s going to be helping you get home. So I would put away the attitude for now.”
Do all Phil’s have the ability to make you feel like you’ve just been scolded by your father? Because it’s not pleasant, especially when Ranboo knows the feeling all too well. And it doesn’t help that the shadow of crows only makes what he says and does more ominous. Evidently, things are not going to go Ranboo’s way, at least not with this. Sometimes he has to pick and choose his battles, and right now, he’d rather not have one with Phil, especially if what he knows about his Phil translates over. He sighs and crosses his arms, absolutely pouting and not caring that it’s obvious. They should know he’s upset.
“Sure. Fine,” he bites out. “Go ahead and put my problems in his hands since I clearly don’t get a say. I’m sure this will go great.”
Notes:
I realized I never said that unfortunately c!Tommy never shows up :/ (I kinda maybe sorta forgot to include him in the original daydream) but like he's definitely going through some shit unlike his origins counterpart so I guess that explains it lol
Chapter 5: C!Ranboo 3
Notes:
Okay so the first two chapters ended up being three days apart and I like that scheduling, but that does mean that sometimes you'll get three chapters a week like right now lol
Ignore the fact that I keep changing the upload schedule-
Chapter Text
Ranboo waits nervously for them to arrive, and he knows it’s obvious from how his tail won’t stay still and he rocks side to side a bit. He has no idea how this Tubbo and Tommy are going to be. He can only assume that they’re going to look different than he’s used to, if Phil is anything to go by, but it’s hard to imagine anything other than what he already knows.
He has to keep reminding himself that he’s not about to see his husband or friend. These are strangers, and he needs to act accordingly. Even if he knows there’s a good chance that he’ll break down when he sees them.
Phil and Sneeg are still looking through the barrels. They keep pulling out scraps of different things, but Ranboo is too distracted to try and see what they are or even ask. They’re not looking for long when the door opens.
“Okay Phil, what’s so important you needed us and no one else to–”
Ranboo freezes at the sound of Tommy’s voice, and when he looks up, there they are. And they are very different looking. This Tommy looks mostly the same, tall with blond hair, only on his back are a pair of white wings. It’s more like the Phil back home, which is strange to see considering his Tommy is just a human.
Tubbo, though, is very different. Instead of the hooves, horns, and ears of a goat hybrid, this Tubbo has bee wings and antenna. His eyes are slightly bigger and darker, and they dart between him and Phil. Unwillingly, Ranboo’s face heats up.
“Who’s this? Is he new?” Tubbo asks, and Phil steps away from the barrels to stand next to Ranboo.
“In a way. This is Ranboo.”
The two of them scrutinize him for a moment, and Ranboo gives a hesitant little wave. Tommy raises an eyebrow. “Hate to break it to you, but that’s definitely not Ranboo.”
Phil sighs. “Not our Ranboo, but yes, this is Ranboo. But anyway, Sneeg and I are going to figure out how to send him back to his world, and I need the two of you to stay with him. Maybe show him around so things aren’t so strange.”
“Man, we’re babysitting?” Tommy complains at the same time that Tubbo questions “What do you mean ‘his world’?”
Tommy pauses. “Wait, yeah, that’s a better question.”
“Ranboo is from a different, well, universe is probably the right way to describe it.”
Tubbo is suddenly flying right in front of his face, wings buzzing behind him as he studies him, making Ranboo jump. “So you’re an alien? Are you from space?”
“N-Not that I know of?”
“He can’t remember a lot, so it’s totally possible,” Sneeg calls helpfully from where he’s still standing on a barrel. Ranboo’s ears tilt down, embarrassed.
“I’m pretty confident I’m just from the End. Or, well, my world’s End? This is confusing.”
“Does this mean we have two Ranboos now? God, that sucks!” Tubbo complains, leaning back and flying back over to Tommy.
“No, our Ranboo switched places with him,” Phil explains. “We think something went wrong when he was tinkering with portals like he always does.”
Tommy scoffs. “Serves him right, the prick.”
The comments make Ranboo’s stomach drop. Clearly the Ranboo from this world is not on good terms with this Tubbo and Tommy, which is sad to think about. So much for making a good first impression if they’re already expecting to hate him. They definitely don’t look pleased that he’s here. Phil looks at them, unimpressed.
“Anyway, just stay with Ranboo until we get everything figured out. Hopefully it won’t take too long.”
“Do we have to?” Tommy complains, and Phil shoots him a look. He stares back defiantly for a moment, ultimately giving up with a groan. “Ugh, fine dad.”
He turns on his heel and opens the door. Tubbo flies out first, and before Tommy follows him he calls “C’mon, boob,” over his shoulder.
“I–okay,” is all Ranboo can get out before he’s scrambling after them.
They’re both already in the process of flying or gliding down to the ground, so Ranboo starts making his way down the ladder as quickly as he can without putting himself in danger. He doesn’t want to fall, but he also doesn’t want to be left behind. It also doesn’t help that the particles are still attached to him and they seem determined to stay in his face at all times.
When he does finally make it to the bottom, thankfully Tubbo and Tommy are waiting for him, and they regard him curiously. Well, Ranboo is going to think curiously, but he can tell there’s a bit more judgement there than curiosity. He doesn’t think they’re going to say anything about it, though, because as soon as he’s on his feet they turn and start walking, leaving Ranboo to follow without a word.
He thinks they aren’t going to say anything to him until Tubbo speaks up.
“Can you not teleport or something?”
“No,” he answers, and that seems to surprise both of them. Clearly Sneeg isn’t the only one who expected him to be able to.
“Wait, really? Is that something that happened when you got put here or-?”
“I’ve never been able to do it,” he explains. “A friend of mine, Techno–do you have a Techno here?”
“No,” Tommy answers, a bit bluntly. Ranboo tries to ignore it.
“Ah, okay, that makes sense then why I didn’t see him with Phil. But anyway, Techno tried to see if he could teach me how to teleport, but it never worked.”
“Is he an enderman?”
“Nope.”
“Are you an enderman?” Tubbo questions, turning to look up at him over his shoulder, making Ranboo fidgety.
“Yes? Technically half, but yes.”
Tubbo hums in acknowledgment. He looks Ranboo up and down, and then turns back around. “That explains why you look weird, then.”
***
They end up walking in silence for a bit. Ranboo is trying to stay out of the way as he follows, and there are a few times he notices Tubbo and Tommy look at each other for a moment, like they’re communicating without words. It’s weirdly comforting to see, knowing that even a different version of them has the same strong bond between them. It’s just his luck that he’s not a part of this one.
Wherever they’re going, it’s near some of the houses he saw earlier. They might be going to one of their houses, actually, which he is a little worried about. But Phil told them to stay with him, and he trusts Phil to make sure he’s okay. Maybe he should have asked for a comm so he could send messages. . .
They both stop so suddenly he almost runs into them. Looking around, they’re in the garden in front of a small cottage. It looks very homey, with birdfeeders and windchimes hanging off of the house itself and some of the surrounding trees. He’s still looking around at everything when the two turn around and face him.
“You’re super quiet,” Tubbo says, catching him off guard.
“S-Should I be saying something?” he stutters out, and Tubbo sighs, almost sounding annoyed.
“I mean, no, it’s just–we’re not used to it.”
“How come?” he asks, and is surprised to see that they also look surprised at his question. And very confused, if they way they glance at each other is anything to go by. Tubbo pinches the bridge of his nose.
“This just keeps getting weirder,” he mumbles to himself, and then says the next part louder. “Ranboo–our Ranboo? No, ew, that’s weird to say. Our Ranboo, can you imagine?” He nudges Tommy’s arm with a snicker, then clears his throat. “This world’s Ranboo is rude as shit and always has some comment about something or another, and he’s never afraid to say it. He’s never quiet when you’re around him, so it’s just strange that you’ve been so quiet.”
Ranboo doesn’t know how to take that. Is that why they’ve been weird towards him this whole time?
“Are you expecting me to insult you?” he asks. “I don’t even know you well enough to insult.”
“So you would if you knew us better?” Tommy accuses, making Ranboo feel even more confused.
“No? That’d be mean.”
“Huh,” he says, like he wasn’t expecting that response. He looks at Tubbo and shrugs, who shrugs back at him.
Tubbo then starts walking towards the house, which Ranboo has since put together that it’s his, and lets them in when they follow. Ranboo ends up having to duck to get inside, his horns just barely brushing the top of the doorframe. It looks as cozy as the outside does.
It’s very open concept like the Pub, with a kitchen off to the right and a sitting area to the left with some chairs and a couch that has some blankets thrown across it. There are a lot of windows, letting in natural light, and there aren’t any lamps or things that he can see. Towards the back is a staircase that leads to what he’s assuming is a bedroom, since he can’t see any other doors down here aside from the front door they just came in through.
Tubbo immediately goes over to the couch and throws himself down on it. “Have you found anywhere to stay yet? I’m guessing you’ll be here for a few days.”
“I mean, I woke up in some cave that was fully furnished, which was a surprise.”
“That’s Ranboo’s house,” Tommy explains, dropping down into one of the chairs. “Honestly, you can probably just stay there since he isn’t here.”
“Are you sure? I’d hate to accidentally mess something up in there or break something.”
He only further proves his point by how carefully he takes a seat in the last open chair, making sure to hold his tail in his lap so that there’s no chance of it knocking anything over. Tommy laughs in disbelief.
“Well shit, I guess all Ranboos are not made the same.”
“Thanks?”
“You’re welcome.”
“He just means that we weren’t too thrilled at first because we were worried you were gonna be like our guy, so we were kinda tense out of habit,” Tubbo explains, crossing his arms behind his head. “So it’s nothing you did.”
“Oh, well, it’s okay, I understand.” He starts fiddling with his tail. “I’m not too great with new people, either. It’s even worse when it turns out I’ve met them before and don’t know it.”
“Yeah, Sneeg said something about you not being able to remember anything?” Tommy asks. Tubbo grins.
“Is that something we need to help fix? I’m always down for experiments.”
Maybe his Tubbo and this Tubbo aren’t as different as he thought, because he should have known that would be what he thinks of first. However, knowing what kind of experiments Tubbo tends to run, he definitely does not want to be on the receiving end.
“No, no experiments,” he says quickly, and Tubbo pouts a bit but gives in. “I’ve always had memory problems,” he continues, “and I had books that I wrote everything down in, but apparently I was not given those back when I was revived.”
Tommy leans forward in his chair a bit. “What do you mean?”
“Hm?”
Crap. Is that something he should have told them? Does this world have weird feelings about revivals? His world definitely does, even though that doesn’t stop it from happening. Is there a revive book here? Is there a–do they have him here? Okay, there’s still a chance to fix it and try to play it off.
“Oh, I guess Phil didn’t tell you. Which why would he, there was no point in telling you and there was no reason for me to even bring it up because you didn’t need to know, and here I am making things even more weird–”
“Woah, woah. Hey,” Tommy says, interrupting his rambling and causing his face to heat up. “Didn’t mean to touch a nerve there or anything.”
Which of course he ended up rambling, he’s too nervous, and he always starts rambling when he’s nervous or lying, which is exactly what he was just trying to do. Now it’s obvious something is up with him, and they were already having to deal with him being from a different universe and what that entails.
“Are you a ghost?” Tubbo asks, and Tommy kicks him, making him yelp in protest.
“Tubbo!”
“What? I think it’s a fair question.”
They continue bickering with each other, but it actually ends up calming some of Ranboo’s nerves. It’s starting to feel more like he’s talking to his Tubbo and Tommy. They act the same with each other, in that stupid, brotherly way that he can remember, and he’s used to this. It’s starting to feel less strange. And of course Tubbo would jump to the conclusion of him being a ghost.
“I’m not a ghost,” he says, laughing a little and getting their attention.
“But you are. . .were? Dead?” Tubbo asks, so clearly leading but also making sure to let him fill in the blanks. Ranboo sighs, feeling more tired than anything.
“I was, yeah.”
Tommy whistles. “Damn. Yeah, I can only imagine what that would do to your head. Are you. . .good?
Ranboo shrugs. “I guess? As good as I can be. Everything is still a little weird.” He gestures up at his head. Now they’re looking at him sympathetically, and he quickly tries to go back to what they were talking about at the beginning. “But anyway! My original point: my memory has always been bad, so it’s not really something to worry about. There is a high chance that there will be days that I can’t remember anything at all, and I’ll need help getting some memories back. I have no idea how I’ll be when that happens, so I’m apologizing in advance.”
Tommy jumps to his feet and cracks his knuckles, like he’s getting ready for a fight that Ranboo isn’t too sure he’d win. “Sounds simple enough. Don’t worry, we’ve got this,” he says, full of confidence that only Tommy could have.
“Phil will get you home, and we’re going to be the best babysitters ever until then,” Tubbo adds on, grinning, and Ranboo makes a face.
“Not too sure about calling it that but, okay. I trust you.”