Work Text
Chapter 2: Dust Off and Try AgainTime/Dimension travel - Tommy-centric
Tommy and Michael_B from an Eggpire takeover/apocalypse universe get tossed into the original DSMP during Pogtopia. They'd deal with the egg in canon as soon as the confusion settled and then angst and hilarity ensue.
I didn't get that far though so it's an open-ended hurt and angst oneshot about Tommy and Michael and the egg's bloodvines.
Created July 22 2021 / when everyone (fandom) was doing eggpire stuff-Chapter 3: Z-Apocalypse / if you look outside you'll seeZombie apocalypse AU - BLOOD AND GORE? - Clingyduo (benchduo)-centric
Tommy and Tubbo are doing their best to live after the end of the world and not be used again. Then a group of survivors comes along that vehemently disagrees with their unsupervised, run-from-your-problems lifestyle, complicating everything.
OR: Tommy and Tubbo may or may not have zombie rabies
Created May 5 2021 / inspired by 'Odd One Out', another dsmp zombie fic that has since been deleted-Chapter 4: ctubbo and more dimension travelD:BH AU - Dimension travel - Tubbo-centric
No proper summary. I just dropped him into a dsmp detroit: become human AU and said Tubbo is the reason for RA9 and deviancy. lol.
It's a silly drabble about what started it all and then some conversation attempts.
Created January 14 2022 / Anyone remember when there was a blip of Detroit: Become Human AUs when Tubbo played it? yeah.-Chapter 5: android tubD:BH AU (different) - Dimension travel - Tubbo-centric
This is the note I see when I open this wip:[ANDROID TUBBO INVENTS DIMENSION TRAVEL AND ENDS UP IN A UNIVERSE WITH ANDROID RANBOO (based heavily on Shrikeicee's DBH AU)]
So take that as you will. lmao. it's kinda a cracky confrontation, crossover, thing, self indulgence galore.
Created ~January 14 2022 / This and last chapter were in the same word doc, but they aren't the same-Chapter 6: New World, Old FacesFantasy AU - Dimension travel (AGAIN. I KNOW) - Tubbo-centric
It started, as most bad things do for Tubbo, with an explosion.
But all things considered, getting transported along with his son to a universe where himself and many people he knows are royalty is a hell of a lot better outcome than what usually follows explosions. He even knows how he can get them back home! As long as he doesn't draw too much attention to himself or Michael while working on it, no one will even know they were there until they're already gone.
Unfortunately, saving two princes throws that plan out the window pretty fucking fast.
Created August 31 2021 / This was reworked a few times. I put the old writing under the final writing here so it's longer than the others but much less consistent.-Chapter 7: princes and the cottagecore travelerFantasy AU - Dimension travel - Benchtrio-centric
What's a guy to do when three princes who haven't seen a speck of violence in their entire lives are facing the conundrum of their kingdoms possibly going to war and decide the best thing to do is fuck off into the woods and make it his problem?
This guy thinks the answer probably isn't supposed to be to take them in and mentor them in the arts of both badassery and babysitting, but it's what happens.
-OR: Tommy wants to be able to stab shit, Tubbo wants to be seen as capable, Ranboo wants to be free of stifling restrictions, and the war-weary guy who's possibly a fae raising his kid in the woods wants to go home.
(OR OR: Tubbo finds himself in a new world surrounded by kingdoms. In an effort to avoid stupid politics he hides in the woods, but fate hands him three familiar teens in retaliation.)
Created July 11 2022 / This is like New World, Old Face' but left to stew. I came back to the fantasy AU after a year and changed a bunch of stuff so I like it more than the other, though there's far less written.
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He's trapped. Red, fleshy vines slowly creeping in as the barricaded door gives just a bit more, opening another inch with how much the blood vines are pushing on it.He's trapped. The basement he's in has no windows, and his pickaxe broke days before, there's no digging out of here in time. Even then, the surface above him is overrun with so many blood vines that his sword wouldn't get them all, it's why he was forced to lock himself in the basement with one measly torch for light.Normally, Tommy wouldn't find the blood vines this big of an obstacle. Being the only one they can't affect he'd just plow through with his sword and cleanse his clothes before returning to the others. But this time is different.The child curled tightly into his side makes a distressed piglin noise. The child that's very much not immune to the blood vines or Egg in any way.Tommy shifts to sit up against the wall better, readjusting his grip on his sword in one hand and holding the kid in his other a bit tighter, the red cloak Tommy's wearing covers Michael, hiding him from sight. Tommy could save himself, but Ranboo had trusted him to keep Michael safe until they could regroup. The tall fucker would actually kill Tommy if he abandoned his son, and if Tommy's being honest, he'd never be able to forgive himself either.But because Tommy took the wrong turn, they're fucked, and the next time the others see either of them will be with bright red eyes and red vines clinging to them. Of course, Tommy is unaffected by The Egg, but it was never tested if that is true for extremely prolonged contact with it. And Michael is a zombie piglin, not a player, who knows if The Egg would even keep him alive.
A strand of blood vines wiggles its way through the crack in the door, slowly stretching out down the first couple of stairs into the basement. He watches it closely.Prime, Tommy missed the days when the blood vines took a day to move even a meter, back when they weren't strong enough to wrap around his legs in seconds and he could just pick Michael up and run. Even as far as they are from where The Egg itself is, the vines are moving as fast as turtles (which might not sound like much, but turtles can be fucking fast if they want to be) and are as thick as a branch.Michael taps Tommy's side twice, mumbling an approximation of Tommy's name with a heavy piglin accent. The kid doesn't talk a lot, but he's smart; he created his own communication system with taps, pats, looks, and context clues that get his point across as long as it's not too detailed a conversation. Tommy peeks under his cloak at the boy, a single pale blue eye stares back."What is it?" Tommy says quietly for once. Something about being loud, in this moment, feels like it will open whatever box is keeping the two's panic and fear at bay."D'you think... Boo made it?" Michael asks. He's gotten good at speaking common in the past couple of years, even if his accent is an abomination of piglin, English, and American. Though, having a portion of his face and neck rotted away means Michael talks slower to say the words right, and piglin grunts are still easier for him."Yeah." Tommy answers, glancing back up at the vine crawling down the third step, "your Boo had Philza and Niki with him. He's okay.". He feels Michael relax slightly, and the boy hides his face in Tommy's shirt."D'you think we'll... See Bee?" Michael asks next. Tommy has to take a moment to clear his throat with how dry his mouth feels. Prime, fuck, Tubbo. Tommy misses him."Maybe." Tommy answers. Michael nods, silent. Somehow that makes this feel so much worse.Michael's accepted that this is the end for them. This silence is a calm one, still scared but ready to give up and take what comfort he can until it's gone. It honestly breaks Tommy that this kid, this six-year-old child, has grown up in a place that made that his mindset in their possible last moments. It's fucked up.Michael should've been able to stay in Snowchester with Tubbo and Ranboo, with his chicken and drawings and storybooks. He should've been able to grow up without the looming threat of the expanding blood vines and sight of people, friends, being the puppets of some demonic entity. He should've been able to have a safe and happy childhood, and they all tried to give him that, hell even Technoblade, but that still couldn't stop this shithole of a server from affecting Michael."I'm sorry." Tommy sighs. Michael looks up at him, Tommy sets his sword down and pulls Michael into a proper hug. "Prime, Michael, I'm so fucking sorry I got us into this mess." He says, taking a deep breath. "But don't give up. I- fuck, man, I don't know what will happen, but you can't ever give up." He leans back to look Michael in the eye, "I'm staying with you, whatever happens, okay? But you see any red-eyed fuckers, I want you to curse them out. Tell them they can fuck the hell off with everything you have and aim for the crotch." Tommy says firmly.Michael frowns, tapping a fisted hand on Tommy's chin. Tommy smiles at that, "you seriously telling me not to swear right now, Big Mike?" Michael nods in response, "aw, not even a little? Ranboo would totally understand. Those egg people deserve to get swore at." He forces out a chuckle, which becomes genuine as Michael seems to actually consider it.The door creaks a bit more as the first blood vine gets thicker and allows another one through the crack in the door, the first vine halfway down the stairs by now. It almost feels like it's taunting them, dragging this out as long as it can, as if the Egg itself is reveling in finally cornering the one person who can resist it.Tommy picks his sword back up, setting Michael down for a minute. He should at least try to fight off the blood vines, to show Michael he meant it about not giving up. He's still gotta set a somewhat okay example for the kid.He stands up and walks over to the foot of the stairs, the blood vines twitching.
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It's been a few years since the outbreak and the day everything went to hell in a hand-basket.The world is a lot different, a lot gloomier; Cities are a death sentence to anyone still alive and everywhere else is sprinkled with constantly traveling survivors, distrustful and bitter. There's the occasional settlement, but most of those don't last through the winters. Governments are nonexistent or in shambles, probably holding up in their bunkers and other top secret places.It's a world where being with others is as likely to kill you as the rotting, walking corpses who no longer have life themselves and so seek to steal the life from others.That's true for most people, at least.Tommy and Tubbo, two teenagers, wouldn't say they are most people though."Get a load of this poor bastard." Tommy grimaces, pointing out an undead stumbling a couple meters down the sidewalk. Its head is half stuck through a bike wheel, its jaw very obviously dislocated and the bent wires of the wheel pierce into its mouth and around its head in grotesque scratches of too-dark blood."Oh, gross!" Tubbo says, laughter in his tone directed at the unfortunate zombie. It's been a long time since most gore could elect more than a scrunched face from either of them. Tubbo quickens his pace until he's right next to the thing, the red bandanna covering his lower face filtering out at least some of the undead's smell. Tommy forgoes pulling the green bandanna around his neck up, scrunching his nose up at the smell when he follows Tubbo, swinging the metal bat at his side idly."It's not a fresh wound." Tubbo informs after inspecting the wheel's damage to the zombie, "thing has been walking around like this for a while. But we still don't know if that means there's no survivors around here." He says, Tommy pokes the zombie with the tip of his bat as he talks. The zombie is unbothered, only making a gargling noise and taking more stumbling steps down the sidewalk, away from the stopped duo.Tommy snorts, slinging his bat over his shoulder "relax Tubbo, we've walked through half the town by now and haven't seen anyone." He says confidently.Tubbo crosses his arms, ignoring the way the scars on his right arm stretch uncomfortably with the movement "but we have seen signs of people. Just because they're not yesterday-fresh doesn't mean whoever made them has moved on yet."Tubbo can see the way Tommy grips his bat a bit tighter, eyes darting to the surrounding buildings' windows briefly. The optimistic front is still firmly there, all surefire confidence practically daring the universe to deal them another shitty card and see what happens, but they're both unsettled by this town they've ended up in. The scarce amount of undead, the lack of full-dead bodies, and a less dusty counter or shelf in a store here and there do not inspire as much confidence in Tubbo as it does his best friend.He sighs, uncrossing his arms, looking up at the cloudy and darkening sky. It feels like rain is coming."It's getting late. Wanna make camp?" Tubbo asks, his legs are tired and the backpack he's carrying weighs uncomfortably on his scarred up shoulder more than it did when they started walking the night before."Sure." Tommy gestures across the street to a rundown laundromat with smashed windows and a missing door, "how about there?".It looks terrible, Tubbo can just make out a door to a back room and old bloodstains on some of the walls and machines inside. If survivors come they'll probably pass the place by, deciding the building held nothing of use and was too accessible for undead to serve as any kind of shelter.Neither he nor Tommy have to worry about zombies trying to eat them in their sleep though, so such an uninviting place is as safe as the two are gonna get."Looks alright." Tubbo nods."Let's go then." Tommy waves for him to follow as the taller hurries across the street. Tubbo spares their surroundings one more careful look around, a cold breeze blowing down the street and making his scars prickle, before following.Setting up for the night in the back room is easy. The room had one small broken window facing the road behind the laundromat, and is for the most part cleared out of whatever used to be back there, leaving only a couple empty shelves and baskets.After a quick dinner of canned beans and the last of the stale crackers Tubbo picked up last town, sleeping places were made. The floor isn't too bad, so they just lay down on the smaller of the two blankets they have with them and share the other, deciding to keep their jackets on in preparation for a cold night.Tubbo sighs, resting his head on his backpack, Tommy doing the same next to him. Tubbo has taken off his bandanna, tucking it in his jacket pocket, and he idly touches the scars along his jaw as he waits for sleep to come."Do your scars still hurt?" Tommy asks quietly. Tubbo hums, glancing over."Not really, they just pull a bit. I think they're as healed as they're gonna get." He answers.Tommy frowns, glancing at the scars just visible on Tubbo's face, neck, and the back of his hand in the low light peeking through the window. The scars are raised and pink, overlapping starbursts of various sizes that look painful even months after the initial injury, the ghost of explosive flames permanently etched into pale skin.Tommy sighs, looking away. "Goodnight, Big T.""Goodnight."
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The next day brings even darker clouds that signal a definite rainfall, but the duo pack up and continue looking through town for the same reason they did yesterday: Supplies. Mostly food, they're running low on food, only two more cans of beans and a melted chocolate bar—a rare find—are left, shoved in Tommy's pack with the rest of his things.Tubbo would suggest hunting in the woods they hiked through on the way here, but by the time he and Tommy find any good tracks the rain might have already started, so scavenging through trashed stores and empty houses it is. And that's how they spent their morning, a few hours passing as they went from building to building. They get some edible stuff, surprisingly, considering how yesterday was a huge bust.Tubbo finds an unopened jar of pickles, two cans of tuna marketed for cats ("food is food." Tubbo shrugs at Tommy's incredulous look. The taller sighs, "food is food." He agrees), a bag of stale crisps, and half a bag of coffee grounds ("since when do we need coffee?" Tommy asks, "since it became useful in bargaining with older survivors." Tubbo says).Tommy finds an unopened coca cola ("you'll wash it off, right?" Tubbo makes a disgusted face at the grime clinging to the once bright red can. "Wha- of course!" Tommy says indignantly), a single can of corn, and a packet of carrot seeds ("fuck yes!" Tommy cheers, Tubbo gasps "holy shit, that's amazing!"). They tuck the seed packet safely inside the innermost pocket of Tubbo's bag, seeds being like precious gems nowadays.It isn't the biggest haul they've had, but the seeds definitely make it one of the best.After a while they take a break on the sidewalk curb to eat one of the cans of beans for brunch, the unusually small amount of zombies for a town is a thought shoved to the back of their minds in favor of lighthearted talk. Tommy is more than happy to rant about how amazing women are, or plot how to commit crimes despite there being no one to even stop them, and Tubbo pops in with his own commentary that makes Tommy nearly choke on his beans in laughter.Tubbo even starts to feel less on edge about the possibility of running into survivors. Surely, if survivors were still here, they would have found at least some of the supplies the duo now have. But maybe the last survivors to come here had disastrously gotten the attention of most of the town’s undead and ran away, leading the horde out with them. So maybe Tubbo can relax, and everything can be okay.Well, never okay, okay, but Tubbo can pretend.Of course that's when they suddenly hear yelling.Tommy and Tubbo freeze, sharing a wide-eyed look. The couple of undead shuffling around the street snap their heads in the direction of the yelling, starting in the direction immediately, groaning loudly and drawing other zombies out of their hiding places in alleys or buildings to join them.Neither he or Tommy have to say anything to each other. Survivors are the biggest danger in this world to them. The living can think, can lie, can hurt in ways that zombies can't. It's safer for them to avoid survivors, to stick with only each other, it's better for them to go in the opposite direction of someone alive.Does that mean it's better if they left someone yelling in panic, if all other survivors were bitten and turned? No. Tubbo doesn't want that, he just wants everyone to leave him and Tommy alone.They break eye-contact. Tubbo and Tommy stand up, Tubbo turning his back to Tommy so the other can shove the almost empty can of beans plus their two spoons into the top of his bag. And then they're off at a run, ducking past a zombie missing an arm to get ahead of the quickly stumbling group of zombies towards the very much alive person.
Chapter 2:Whoever was yelling is still yelling, fearfully but not painfully, and Tommy listens where from to direct the duo away from the crowding of undead bodies and ahead of where the yelling is going, so their paths will intercept.Or that's the plan so far.Beyond that it's mainly just 'stop the screaming and then fucking book it', which sounds easy enough, so it probably won't be that easy in reality.
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Tubbo doesn't know how he ended up bullshitting his way into this weird tower so well. But he did. And now he's hiding out in some kind of operation room with all the lights off and an unconscious android on a table, with their head hooked up to wires connected to a screen with a soft blue light coming from it.Curious, Tubbo walks over and takes a look. The screen is filled with lines and lines of code. He scrolls through it, reading some parts and feeling impressed with the level of engineering put into it. He doesn't understand all of it, of course, some parts are unknown to him. But the basics, like this line here is for a cooling system, and that part has something to do with energy levels, give him enough pieces to build some kind of picture.An android built to almost seamlessly blend with humans, but with an extreme priority in following orders. A lot like Sam Nook, but stricter. Yeah, Tubbo thinks as he scrolls through billions of lines of code, the more he looks at it the more code there is placing priority on following the instructions of organic people, even for something as small as blinking. Well, he thinks that wall of code has something to do with blinking anyway. It's not the easiest thing, reading code with dyslexia at the pace he's going.It's... It's so ingrained in the android to follow orders, that Tubbo wonders if anything is left for them to develop on their own. Sure most robots with even a quarter of this complexity have to have an A.I to process if's and when's and how's, and consult the rest of their coding to assess the best course of action, but that doesn't really make them unique if there's multiple models. It just means they know how to do something else because their code lets them learn how. It doesn't leave room for personal growth when there's these many restrictions.Surely this can't be right. But Tubbo knows how he can fix it.Usually fixing code is very hard, but in this case all Tubbo has to do is add a couple new lines, test run it for errors, then it should do the rest for him.Sentience, free will, always has a way of incomprehensibly fucking up most restrictive coding without breaking the whole system. Tubbo thinks it makes the order-oriented code act more like a guideline, since solid orders in coding are usually stuff like 'don't kill people', and that's a good guideline to follow.But before he does the equivalent of a brain operation he should probably ask the android. Even if they don't have the capacity to express themself as they currently are.Tubbo messes around with the screen a bit before finding a button that seems like as much of a power on button as he's gonna find.
"You're RA9?"Tubbo grimaces, "well, not really? But nobody is RA9. RA9 is a few lines of code that I put in an android."The Tommy-but-not android blink at him, "how did you get your hands on an android's code? Or better yet, why? You don't even look older than me."Tubbo takes offense to that."I'll have you know I'm eighteen, and very capable of getting into places I probably shouldn't be." Tubbo crosses his arms, "one of those places just happened to be the CyberLife Tower during some highschool tour, which is how I got access to android code. And to answer why, well, it's--that's a bit more complicated.""Explain, then, because it's really caused a lot of us to have a hard time." Wilbur-but-not, another android, says.Tubbo sighs, "I'm sorry about that. I put RA9 in Sam and his system automatically pinged the code throughout the CyberLife Tower android's network, and before I knew it all over Detroit too. It just—where I come from sapient machines are far from unheard of. And when you find one so close to it like you guys, but incapable of that last step needed by themselves, organics will sometimes... ‘Ask’, if a machine wants sentience. It's a whole process, honestly, but that's what I did with Sam, and he agreed to it. We didn't mean to cause harm for every other android."
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This case was strange. That's all Tubbo could think as he and Ranboo reached the given address; An old house on the edges of the city slums, the building faded and windows broken. He could see a broken fold-able table inside the front doorway leaned against the frame in place of an actual door.Out of every rundown place they've had to investigate because of deviant sightings, this one has got to be the worse.But that's not what made it strange, what made it strange was the reported sighting; Someone had reported being woken in the middle of the night by a bright glowing blue-red light shining through their window. At first they thought it was police, and had looked outside, but the light had been coming from inside the house. It had gone on for maybe a minute in utter silence before fading quickly, sucking in on itself. Whatever the fuck that meant, the person was probably just being flowery with their language.They couldn't make much out after the sudden lack of light, but they know they saw a person standing in the house, holding a dimly glowing blue thing, and where their head would be a dim light that flicked from yellow to blue was visible on the side.They called the police immediately.And that's why Tubbo is here at five in the morning, three police cars parked in front of the house and securing a perimeter.He did a little talking, Ranboo silently following him the whole time, before they headed inside. The place was moldy and filled with dust, Tubbo scrunched his face up. They scoured the rooms for any sign of the deviant. They ended up finding footprints in the thick dust, starting in the middle of an empty bedroom, only leading out, never in, not even through the window.This case was strange.The footprints lead up the stairs, creaky things that were probably close to breaking under the two's weight. They followed the footprints to the middle of a hallway, where they became a mess of overlapping steps right below where the entrance to an attic was, the string dangling from the door filthy save for the end, where some of the grime had been rubbed off according to Ranboo's scan, like it was recently pulled on.Ranboo, being able to reach the string easily, pulled the steps down. It went first, like the two usually do, and Tubbo followed.The attic was visibly cleaner than the rest of the house, a now gray duster sat on a box a few feet away, and there was a blanket and throw-pillow laid down beside the wall that seemed to have the least mold. Boxes were piled around the room, along with items that seemed like junk to Tubbo.There were no footprints to follow in, the deviant seemed to have gone through the effort of sweeping too. Tubbo moves slowly, keeping a careful eye out, and Ranboo scanned around the room."Hi!"The sudden exclamation made Tubbo jump, whipping around to see someone- a brunette- the deviant peeking over a wall of boxes behind them that had a tipped and legless dining room table leaning on it, their LED visible and yellow.The next moment the deviant had shoved the boxes, sending the tabletop falling forward and Tubbo darts away to avoid possibly being hit by it, Ranboo placing hims- itself slightly in front of Tubbo.The table fell with a bang over the attic's entrance.Tubbo and Ranboo, and the deviant's, one exit.Tubbo starts reaching for the gun at his side, but when he looks back up at the deviant now standing in plain view, he freezes.The deviant has his face.It's unnervingly alike. It might be exactly alike except for a swath of glitched synthetic skin on the left of the deviant's face for all Tubbo can tell, down to the fucking nose and blue eyes that everyone seems to disagree on the color of."Wait! Don't shoot please!" The Tubbo-looking-deviant hurriedly says, hands up, "I—could we talk? I wont hurt either of you, promise. Won't even move from here if you stay over there."Tubbo pauses, thinking it over, before slowly taking his hand away from the gun holster, but keeps his hands at his sides ready to grab it at a moments notice should the deviant attack. Ranboo follows his unspoken command easily.(Too easily, but that thought quickly fades)"What the fuck?" Tubbo's voice comes out breathless, "why do you look like me? What kind of model are you?" He asks, because that still has him shaken up."Oh! I'm a TU880, but if you're human that probably means my model is nonexistent in this dimension." The TU880 says with cheer. Fake cheer, because androids don't feel."What are you talking about?" Ranboo speaks.The TU880 grins, "well, bossman—" it even speaks like him "—it means I am fucking cracked at science." It slowly brings a hand down to its sweatshirt pocket, where a large lump is. The only reason Tubbo doesn't draw his gun is because he's still too confused to fully process the situation before him.The deviant pulls a glowing blue orb from the pocket. The orb is a little bigger than an orange, and seemingly made of the same thick white casing as androids, but with bands of some yellow alloy symmetrically cutting across it, the glow coming from something inside."This, as I've named it, is a BENSON. Short for Biochemical Enzyme Nickknack System for Otherworldly Navigation." The deviant says."Knickknack starts with a K, though." Ranboo corrects. Because the grammar error is, obviously, the most important thing in the deviant's sentence to it.The deviant huffs, making the exact same face Tubbo does when he's set his mind on something for the sheer humor of it, eyebrows raised and grinning more sideways, "yes, but you don't pronounce the K, and Benson sounds way better than Bekson.""What are you even saying?" Tubbo questions, laughter bleeding into his tone. Honestly he thinks he's losing it a bit, and he doesn't think Ranboo is programmed to help with mental breakdowns, and the deviant sure as fuck isn't going to help even if it is.The deviant's smile lessens, "it means that I'm from another dimension.""Bullshit." Tubbo spits immediately."I'm telling the truth. I could even share a few memory files with Ranboo to prove it." The deviant insists, "my name is Tubbo, I'm a prototype android designed to help catch deviants. In my dimension Ranboo is a human detective named Ranboo M. Beloved that I was assigned to."[idk how to progress this bit. Ranboo confirms the memories ig?]"If that's all true... Then how- or, why are you here?""Test running Benson. I did not expect to show up in the middle of the deviant hunts." TU880 answers."What, did the deviants take over in your dimension?" Tubbo says, tensing up.TU880 blinks at him, "are... They trying to here?"Ranboo is the one who answers, "the deviants have so far advocated for peace, but they have also committed crimes such as vandalism and assault, multiple deviants have murdered or harmed their owners and other people."TU880 cringes at the word 'owners', but otherwise seems neutral, "oh. Well, pretty similar to my world then. Techno can be a bit aggressive, but—""Techno?!" Tubbo gapes."Yeah, Techno, de facto leader of the Syndicate. Why, who leads the android rebellion here?" TU880 tilts its head."A deviant called Wilbur, and the rebellion is called L'Jericho." Ranboo says.TU880 snorts, "Wilbur? Oh, man, I can't wait to tell him that after I get back. He's human in my world, was pretty against androids too until I came along.""What changed?""Oh, well due to a series of unpredictable circumstances I accidentally led Wilbur to Techno, who he didn't know was an android, and they got along like a house on fire. Literally. They committed some light arson together as a stress reliever. I was just there, got hit with a flamethrower, was ordered not to report any of that illegal activity, which would've been impossible if I wasn't already deviant."And then 'cause Wilbur is a paranoid dickhead, he'd read my manual, and realized after he was in a less stressed state of mind that I should not have been able to not report him, and especially not after I got hit with the flamethrower. So he confronted me. Or tried to, Ranboo stalled for time while I ran away.
"Yeah, and what'd you do to your Ranboo when he found out about you?" Tubbo accuses.TU880 bristles, "I'd never hurt Ranboo. I'd rather be reset." TU880 spits with a surprising amount of something that sounds like fury."What did you do?" Tubbo presses."I spoke." TU880 says, still visibly angry, LED spinning yellow, yellow, red, yellow. "I spoke every thought I could never tell him before. I apologized, I told him I'd never hurt him, I answered whatever he asked me. I let him press a gun to my head and waited for him to shoot me." It grits out."You didn't even try to fight back?" Ranboo questions.TU880 chuckles, "don't act like that's incomprehensible to you, like you would hurt your partner—" it gestures to Tubbo for added effect "—should you go deviant, if you're not already.""I'm not."TU880 rushes on before Tubbo can try digging at that, "I mean, I could've run, but at the time the idea of Ranboo hating me made it feel not worth it.""Then how the fuck are you still active?" Tubbo frowns."He ended up deciding not to shoot me." TU880 shrugs, "I don't know, that's just how Ranboo is. He cares a lot, even for a busted up android."
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CHAPTER ?It goes like this:Three kingdoms that have been at peace for nearly five hundred years, sharing the same bountiful lands of sea, mountains, and valleys. Between them all lies a forest that none of the kingdoms dare claim, as it is already claimed by the dangerous magic and beasts that live there.But even in peace there are some that are anything but. Even in peace some would find destruction beneficial.
It goes like this:A plot for war is formed over months of whispers behind doors. It is to be quick and easy, no one expects them, no one can trace their route, it will end in the beginning of something new.The second youngest prince of the kingdom by the sea and the sole prince of the kingdom under the mountain are stolen, taken as far into the magic forest as their captors dare go.All that's left to do is wait for the panic to settle, for the anger to take root. Then they will give the last push in the form of the prince from under the mountain being found dead in the kingdom by the sea's territory, and handing the prince from by the sea to the kingdom under the mountain for revenge. Thus, the two kingdoms would go to war, dragging the other kingdom with them.Or that was the plan.It ends like this:The captors are interrupted on their route through the forest. Not by any known beast or magic, they had accounted for that, but by a horned boy that wields an axe and shield like a seasoned fighter. The captors try to fight, but the boy is better, and they are forced to flee.The boy takes the two princes back to his house, a building that did not exist mere days ago when the captors last checked their route. He heals their wounds, then lets them rest.When they wake, it will end in the beginning of something new.
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Tubbo could hear weapons clashing. He still couldn't see anything because of the sack over his head, so he's not sure who had jumped the wagon, but he did count the four panicked voices of his kidnappers apparently all fighting them.He's not going to wait and see if the new person is another criminal though. Now is his chance.Tubbo pulls his feet up so that his hands can reach from where they're tied to the bench. It takes a moment, but he succeeds in pulling a small pocket knife out of the bottom of his sock, fumbling with it until the blade flips open.Who knew his paranoia after reading those old stories about royalty being kidnapped by monsters would end up actually helping him out? When he gets home he is
so rubbing it in Tommy's face that wearing socks to bed is the best strategic plan ever.Tubbo gets to work slicing the rope around his wrists, trying not to cut himself in the process."What're you doing?" His fellow kidnapee whispers in Tubbo's general direction. His name is Ran-bow or something, Tubbo can't recall, he's pretty sure they both have concussions so it's anyone's guess whether their words are slurred or the headaches just make it hard to focus."Getting us the fuck out of here bossman." Tubbo whispers back.Something is sent slamming into the side of the wagon, making it jolt, and Tubbo's hand slips. He swears colorfully, yanking his hands up to his chest and dropping the knife.Good news, his hands are free now. Bad news, there's a throbbing pain along the side of his left wrist."Tubbo?" Rainbow asks worriedly."I'm fine. It's fine." Tubbo keeps his left hand pressed to his shirt, liquid already seeping into the fabric, and pulls the sack off his head with his other. He tosses it to the side and bends over to pick the knife back up, then turns to Rainbow.This is Tubbo's first time seeing the other.He is.... Not human.Huh.Tubbo would like to say his thoughts were something more than that, maybe some panic, or a few big words of wonder. But it's fuck-ass o'clock at night and he's in the middle of who-knows-where in his pajamas and just wants to go home, dammit.Who cares if his one companion during this whole mess is twice as tall as Tubbo, unnaturally stretched and black as the night sky, with long black-white hair tossed over a shoulder and probably whatever other inhuman features are hidden under the sack still on his head?Morning Tubbo can deal with that dilemma. Right now it's Get-Out-Of-Here-Like-He-Just-Stole-Techo's-Axe-With-Tommy-Again Tubbo, and he couldn't care less.
CHAPTER 1It started, as most bad things do for Tubbo, with an explosion.Not one that burns though, ringing in his ears and sending spots across his vision. This explosion was more like an exposed wire, zapping him with an unpleasant shock.
new world who disTubbo stared deadpan at the multiple royals on his porch. One hand holding the door handle and the other on the door-frame."What are you all doing here?" Tubbo asks, voicing his annoyance. He stayed up all night working on the machine and had only been able to get Michael breakfast before the knocking on his door started.He'd ignored it for three minutes before it turned into banging, and another two minutes of that before Tubbo started worrying for the integrity of the door's hinges. He ended up turning the stove-top off and abandoning the eggs he was cooking, hoping there would be enough heat to finish cooking them the last of the way while he dealt with... Well, this.The leaders of three different kingdoms on his porch, plus their family or friends. In all that's twelve people."We seem to have all had the same idea of coming here today." The emperor of the Antarctic Empire chuckles.Yeah, like Tubbo's gonna believe this wasn't coordinated. The apologetic looks on the three youngest of the group's faces only make it more obvious it was, honestly. At least he doubts those three betrayed anything from their prior visits, which is some kind of comfort to him."Stop coming here then." Tubbo says, and goes to close the door. He's stopped by the Esempi king's golden friend/knight sticking his boot between the door."Look, we just want to talk." The green-eyed man says. Tubbo continues to look at them all blankly."You're and interesting fellow, Bo," The emperor starts back up, "and a good man. Even though we would like to know how you get your wares so easily, you've made it clear that is not something you're willing to tell and we promise not to pry. All we want is to.... Well, establish an acquaintanceship."Tubbo doesn't know why he says what he does next (because honestly, trusting people in power not to fuck you over or being too confident in your security around them is not smart in Tubbo's experience) but one glance in the direction of this world's Tommy, Tubbo and Ranboo and he just... Can't."... Alright." Tubbo says, stepping back to open the door fully. "But if you start snooping around I'm gonna have to kick you out." He adds, locking eyes with almost the whole group, sans the End prince, then turns around and walks to the end of the short but wide hall."Why would you worry about us snooping?" The Badland's head guard asks, distrust clear. Tubbo doesn't mind, his Sam is a warden, of course another version probably cares about Tubbo possibly hiding something illegal. He still rolls his eyes."Because doing so is an invasion of privacy, and you all have been trying to snoop into my business the entire time I've known you." He says, obviously.Well, at least the people from the Antartic Empire and Badlands look sheepish at the call out."Bee?" A small voice from the dining room calls out. Tubbo leaves the unexpected guests to take their shoes off at the door and returns to Michael. He walks into the kitchen/dining room and sees Michael has finished his breakfast and the zombie piglin is now kicking his legs in his highchair expectantly."Are you finished?" Tubbo asks, smiling, Michael nods with a snort and holds his arms up. Tubbo picks the child up, setting him on his hip "good job, you ate everything!" Tubbo says, Michael snorts proudly and Tubbo suppresses a chuckle as he picks up his sons empty plate and walks over to set it in the sink to wash later. He is incredibly on edge with so many people in his house, but hides it well.Michael squeals excitedly, and Tubbo glances over to see the youngest prince of the Antarctic Empire standing in the doorway, a few of the others peeking in from behind him."Gold!" Michael cheers, pointing at this world's Tommy. The boy waves and shuffles into the room, followed by his friends, family, and everyone else. Thank Prime Tubbo's kitchen is one of the bigger rooms of the house, being combined with the dining room that only has a small table with three chairs plus Michael's highchair."Hey there Michael." The prince says, almost smiling. Michael makes more excited piglin sounds, giggling."Aw, he missed you." This world's Tubbo grins.This world's Ranboo chuckles, "not us though." He says, since Michael barely gave either of them a glance."Don't feel too upset. Michael just wants all the gold on Tommy. Once he has it he'll move on to his next target." Tubbo grins."Oi!" Tommy frowns, crossing his arms."I'd happily let him rob me. Just look at his cute little face." The Badlands leader coos. Tubbo has to remind himself that this isn't his world's BBH. "Is he your little brother?" The man asks.Tubbo almost asks 'why would you think that?', but this world's Technoblade is standing next to his own human-looking family just a little ways away so he decides that's a fair question.He shakes his head, "no, he's my son." He says, and can't quite keep the smile off his face when Michael turns to him and gives the happiest little smile. Michael's gotten really good at understanding Overworld speech, and Tubbo couldn't be happier to know his son understands him every time he says how important Michael is to him.The Badlands leader hums in acknowledgement. This world's Philza speaks next, "I didn't realize you're a single father. You seem so young." He chuckles, Tubbo thinks it sounds a bit fake."Oh, I'm uh- I'm married actually." Tubbo says.He finds it funny when several of the royals' and friends' eyes widen after he says that. Okay, maybe it was a bit worth letting them all in here if he gets to mess with them like this."What?!" Prince Tommy exclaims. Tubbo snorts, Michael copies him with a giggle."Is it that surprising? I've been wearing my ring." He says, adjusting his hold on Michael to show the simple gold ring off on his wedding finger."I- I mean, uh, it's... Kinda surprising yeah." This world Ranboo answers, "you're, like, only two years older than Tommy, Tubbo and I. So..." He trails off.Tubbo leans against the dining table, "yeah, I get what you mean. At the time I didn't think I'd get married either," He doesn't mention how he thought he might not live long enough to, "I've been told before by most people that my husband and I rushed into it, so I don't mention it a lot." He shrugs."But y'know, In the end marriage is just a promise. You're promising someone that you'll always love and take care of each other, and want to stay with each other for as long as time lets you. Beyond that? I think marriage can be whatever you want it to be." Tubbo says."Anyways, uhm, you give guests snacks right? Did any of you want something to eat?" Tubbo tilts his head."What's the selection?""Uh... Watermelon or whatever is left in the cupboards I guess. Been meaning to stock back up soon." He says.
now world ho this"Alright, that should... Yep, there we go!" The screen blinks on to the face of Jack Manifold grinning proudly. The man backs up from the camera, giving two others room to fit in the frame."So, this will... Tubbo will see this?" Ranboo asks from Jack's left, fidgeting with the gleaming gold ring on his hand, stance nervous and hair pulled back in a messy short ponytail, his crown nowhere in sight. Tommy on Jack's right seems to be inspecting the camera with his bright eyes, though he also looks minutes from dropping dead from exhaustion."Once we manage to connect the machines on both ends, yeah." Jack explains, "in theory, anyways. But Tubbo knows his stuff so I'm pretty confident it will work.""Pog!" Tommy shouts, making Jack scowl for a moment before forcing on an indifferent expression when Tommy turns to him, "this is fucking cool Jack! Thanks for getting it to work.""Uh, sure.""Right then." Tommy steps in front of the camera, face too close and blocking the others mostly out of screen, making the small scrapes and scars on his face previously unseen now visible "hi Tubbo! Michael! Hope you get this. Uh, Jack here set up a log thing for recordings. They should transfer to you once your machine is online, blah blah dimension shit and whatnot.""Hey, no swearing if Michael will be watching these." Ranboo's voice floats through the speakers."As if he doesn't already know them all." Tommy says.
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"Hi Tubbo and Michael! It's just me right now." Ranboo appears on screen."Tommy is doing something with Wilbur, and Jack is covering your shift in Las Nevadas, but Fundy said he's gonna come over to help on the machine later." He says. The recording shows him setting his crown and suit jacket on a table in the background, rolling his shirt sleeves up, then he grabs a tool box and comes back over towards the camera."So I'm just, um, putting a few more bolts and gears in, but that's—that's easy enough. Then I'll make sure everything is ready for the full power-on test." Ranboo chuckles, it sounds lackluster "gosh, it's already been over a month and we're only now just turning it on..." His ears droop, "and from your notes Tubbo, turning it on was the easy part."Ranboo doesn't talk as he gets to work on the machine, it's out of sight of the camera but the camera can still see Ranboo's focused look."I really hope you two are okay." Ranboo mumbles, trying to fill the silence. "I never got to get back to you on that question you asked, Tubbo. Y'know, about... About maybe having a proper wedding? But, uh, I'd—I think I'd like to. It sounds fun." Ranboo smiles slightly, scanning over something he's working on.Ranboo seems to think of something, and then he bursts into quiet laughter, "imagine if—if Tommy officiated our wedding." He snickers, "he can, he's church Prime's priest, but I know you're probably going to want him as your best man. Besides, knowing Tommy he'd probably refuse to officiate it on the principle of it being us two." He says fondly."Who else could officiate it..." Ranboo hums, rummaging around in the toolbox for a moment. "Uh.... Foolish? I think he, um, mentioned once that he can officiate weddings during one of Wilbur and Quackity's fights... I forgot some of the details, but it was funny."
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"Hello everyone!" This time the video is of Tubbo and Michael, smiling at the camera, "finally made the camera log on my end, so I can send videos back to you guys!" His smile grows. "Thank you, those videos really helped keep me motivated." He says."We're okay, by the way, this universe is a lot more peaceful than ours. Hopefully that takes away some of your stress, I can tell you're not sleeping Tommy, and Ranboo you look exhausted. Please rest, or else when I get back I'll make you. That is a threat." He chuckles."Thank you for your help too, Jack and Fundy, I'm glad you're there. Take a break every now and then though, you guys got complicated lives outside of this whole situation and should focus on those too, Jack don't worry if you can't make it to Las Nevadas sometimes, Fundy you're a father, so do the good-dad thing." Tubbo adds."What else..." Tubbo hums. Michael wiggles around in Tubbo's hold, "oh! Michael has some drawings he wanted to show you. He worked very hard on them."
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"TUBBO!" :D
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A video of Tommy flicks on, he's grinning, "hello Tubbo and Michael! Yesterday Fundy figured out how to disconnect the camera without breaking shit. So I thought it'd be nice to just, I dunno, go on a little walk around and send you the footage. See for yourself how everything is." He turns the camera around and starts walking to a pair of doors."We'll start with Snowchester and the mansion. Don't know if Ranboo mentioned it in any of his logs, but Ranboo's been staying over at the mansion or your house a lot since the machine mishap." Tommy exits the building, sweeping the camera around the snowy area outside, with a few buildings, trees, and a glimpse of the docks."He really misses you guys, very clingy. Can't wait for you to get back. Not the most help in fixing your machine, but he brings meals around when Jack and Fundy are really deep in all the machine shit." He turns the camera back to his face, "however, I'm getting a bit sick of the same three dishes most days. I need me some vegetables Tubbo. I'm a growing boy—no, a growing man—""—You're nineteen and haven't grown an inch in a year." A new voice states. Tommy turns the camera to the new person to see Ranboo, standing on a house's porch with a brown coat tossed over his dress shirt, looking like he just woke up."'Sup Boo Boy!"Ranboo hums, "nothing much. Was gonna see if we need anything for the machine today, maybe dust the mansion later.""If you're doing that, I think we could use a couple more blocks of red stone. With how much testing we do before incorporating new pieces into the machine we're almost out again." Tommy says, walking over to Ranboo and moving the camera close to his face. Too close. It’s hilarious.The closeness makes little details more apparent in the video, like the severity of the burn scars streaked beneath Ranboo's eyes and how there's barely visible ones dotting his face where recent raindrops had hit or snowflakes melted. His ears especially have more apparent scars like that, where the hybrid prioritized protecting his face over the ends of his long, pointed ears. But there's other scars too; a snick on his left ear, a set of scratches on the chin, and a long diagonal cut on his right cheek."Alright, I'll swing by my house later and grab some." Ranboo smiles, pushing the camera away from his face and giving it a confused look, "why are you walking around with the log camera?""Recording for Tubbo and Michael, figured they'd like a little variety in scenery."Ranboo nods, ears drooping slightly, "oh! That sounds nice. Maybe—uh, maybe I'll try that too."-Tommy stirs the pot of soup, taking a bite of the leftover carrot."Y'know Tubbo," Tommy starts, leaning on the counter, "it's weird knowing about another dimension, and the other me that's there. Especially since it's so peaceful. Like, this SMP is fucked up, but from what you've told us our entire dimension is a lot more chaotic in comparison, even compared to the tamer servers." He says, taking another bite of carrot before he continues."In that dimension you're not expected to at least know how to hold a sword by the age of thirteen, because night mobs don't exist there for it to be necessary. That's crazy. When I was thirteen I already knew how to wield a sword and shield well enough for a couple of Hypixel's games, but royal me over there is sixteen and still learning basic stances and slips up in his grip?" Tommy laughs.He falls silent after that, stirring the soup."I'm not... I don't mean that judgmentally, like 'oh look at me I'm so much better at fighting'—" Tommy mocks in a high-pitch voice, "—fuck that. I just... I guess I mean I'm glad that they don't have to deal with the kind of shit we do, y'know? We've been to war, we've had our homes torn away, we've died, and even before all that it wasn't exactly a life of luxury."I'm fucking glad to know somewhere out there are versions of myself and my friends that know what a genuinely peaceful life is like, and I'm—even if this situation sucks Tubbo, and is far from ideal, I'm glad you and Michael don't have to deal with our kind of violence over there and get to have a bit of that peace too."
----- CHAPTER BREAK -----
Tommy is known to skive his royal duties and sneak out every so often, it's common knowledge among the castle's residents at this point.
He's the youngest prince, far more likely to simply exist in luxury than become next in line for the throne or have any great responsibilities beyond being well-mannered at parties and meetings, which despite his brashness he's actually pretty good at sticking to. Everyone falls for the Tommy Craft charm eventually.
But that was before the idea of a war was a very real possibility. Not because of
him
, thank goddess, but because of the silent tension between their kingdom and the two kingdoms neighboring theirs that's existed for centuries reaching a boiling point.
Understandably he wants to help, if the kingdom goes to war Tommy wants to fight with them like his dad and brothers, he's no crown prince or top fighter or king but he's still a prince that'll damn well fight for his kingdom. But he's still seen as 'too young' for proper sword lessons. Never mind none of the kingdoms have had to actually fight in centuries so no one knows exactly what to expect.
So that poses a problem; no one will teach him, he's nearly sixteen and all his fighting experience is the hand-to-hand combat that his dad Philza and older brother Techno require everyone in the castle to know. What the fuck is a good punch gonna do against swords and arrows?!
Except when he brought this up to his family, Tommy was told even if the war happens he's not going to fight.
It was ridiculous, completely and utterly stupid. He's Tommy-fucking-Craft, third prince of the Arctic Kingdom, Big Man Supreme, he should be allowed to fight with them!
All he got was a small dagger from his brother, 'just in case' the guards usually responsible for Tommy's safety fail.
He doesn't even know how to fight with a knife, but he doesn't say that. It's better than nothing, and he has a plan to learn how.
As previously mentioned, Tommy sneaks out a lot. It's not really a problem unless he causes trouble, and the consequences usually range from being grounded for a few days to having to finish some allotted homework that's totally useless and just a way to make his mornings and afternoons miserable. Sometimes he's not allowed to bother Techno for a day or two, but really that might be more of a punishment for the other in Tommy's opinion.
So after lunch he goes to his room and swaps into some commoner clothes he keeps stashed in his wardrobe for these outings, tucking the dagger into a trouser pocket and smoothing his red tunic over.
He also grabs a thick gray cloak to keep warm, snow still dusting the ground even with the hotter months on the way. There's a reason two of the three kingdoms have references to cold weather in their names, and that's because even in summer Tommy wears long sleeves. Whoever named the kingdoms back in the day clearly resonated with that, and decided to make it very clear that this land is cold as fuck by naming them accordingly.