Chapter Text
While they were laughing and eating the food Kristin had made so thoughtfully, Skeppy happened to say;
"By the way, Bad just watched the GenLoss VODs for the first time before we came here, Ranboo!"
"Oh! What did you think, Bad? I really hope you liked it, to be honest. It was one hell of a ride when it was happening, I'll be real." Ranboo said, ruffling his hair nervously while Mat snorted a bit at the look on Bad's face.
"All I'm gonna say is that if you ever say you're not a really good actor again, I am going to deck you straight into a darn wall, you muffinhead."
Ranboo's eyebrows rose to their hairline at that in a mix of surprise and confusion, making everyone start laughing.
"W-what do you mean?!"
That made Bad facepalm so hard while smacking him across the head, much to everyone's amusement.
"What I mean is that if they hadn't given you that award at the Emmy's, that would've been a flat-out robbery right there. The last episode absolutely shattered me, I'm not even kidding! You guys's acting is out of this world!"
At that, Ranboo was not the only one who turned red, Charlie and Sneeg also blushed furiously, making the others chuckle. And then, Ranboo happened to ask how the others's reactions had been when they'd watched it live.
"Oh, do we have a story for that one! It was insane to watch, to be honest." Freddie said, snorting.
"I wanna go first though!! Right, Phil?! Ours is cooler!!"
Tubbo and Aimsey protested a bit but then relented, seeing how hilariously eager Tommy and Wilbur both were, much to everyone's amusement.
May 24, 10:55 PM - At Tommy's house
"Phil it's starting!! It's starting!! Where's Wilby?! He swore he'd watch it with us!!" Tommy yelled as he put his huge bowl of popcorn and the few cans of coke on his desk and navigated to Ranboo's Twitch eagerly. He heard Phil laugh at his demand and say;
"Don't worry mate, they're coming in a few minutes. I don't think it's gonna begin that fast."
Tommy frowned for a moment, confused.
"They? Since when Wil goes by they??"
At his confusion, Phil started cackling which made Tommy quite annoyed at the old man. And when Kristin came in, she was just as confused until Phil explained through his loud laughter and Kristin started chuckling as well.
"What?!"
Before Phil could answer, they heard 4 more dings get added to their video chat and looking up, Tommy saw Wilbur and the rest of the LoveJoy members, blushing as he realized what Phil was talking about, much to the man's absolute amusement. Wilbur was confused and about to say something when the screen finally changed.
"Oooh, it's finally here!!!" Phil said, hyped as they all watched intently. And before they could say anything else, Tommy ran out of the frame for a moment, running to his merch shelf and picking up a certain Youtooz with a slightly sad grin and returning. He replied the weird looks by showing the Youtooz and was met with matching looks.
"I thought Techno would want to watch it with us, you know, even if he's not here anymore."
Everyone smiled softly at the teen's statement, agreeing quietly.
"Yeah, the kid's been working so hard on this, I bet it'll be great." Mark remarked, smiling. Ash nodded fervently, knowing a lot about what might go on in the show.
"He always does. I called Niki too but she said she's gonna be too busy these few days."
"Shut the hell up, y'all! We need to vote right now!" Tommy interrupted, chuckling as he voted for the Parrot for the head.
"This music is kind of a vibe though, not gonna lie." Joe said, bopping his head to the music while they voted. Then the torso part came and they all burst out laughing.
"I think we know which one we all will choose, right?" Mark said while still laughing and they all said at the same time;
"PICKLES!!"
"God, I really hope our manager did not overhear this, that would be awkward to explain why we all suddenly yelled out 'PICKLES' in unison..." Wilbur said with a laugh.
"Don't worry mate, the poor sod is probably used to it, after all, he deals with you on a daily basis." Ash quipped, ignoring Wil's indignant yell as the strange create-a-creature bit ended and the screen changed to Ranboo laying on a couch in a weird position, looking asleep.
"He falls asleep in the weirdest positions, I swear to GOD..." Tommy said with a fond grin while looking at the chat. He noted that they were doing something with their hand, some kind of weird movement, before they shot awake.
"Guys? Did anyone else see what Ran just did with his hand or was it just me??" Wilbur said, frowning slightly.
"Huh? I didn't see a thing, mate??" Phil said and the others shrugged.
"I did! I think it was some kind of morse code, according to their chat?? Dunno what it means though." Tommy said, shrugging. They watched Ranboo try to take the weird but absolutely cool looking mask off and fail, nervously looking around and starting to explore and eventually get out of the room they were in, straight into a forest.
"What the fuck...?? How did he end up in there?!" Joe muttered, frowning as Ranboo hurriedly went back inside after a weird cry spooked him. The others shrugged, just as clueless.
"Valid reaction."
And then, as the young man on the screen tried to explore the odd room he was in, the camera zoomed to the urn on the nightstand with the prompt of Haunt. They all looked at eachother and spammed the button while strange cries still echoed in the stream.
"What the fuck does this haunt thing mean???" Wilbur muttered and then, the urn was broken by a hand with a pencil, making them laugh. Their laughter died down when Ranboo noticed the broken urn and the ashes and approached it though, replaced with confusion as the young man said;
"It wasn't supposed to... be like this..."
"Huh???" Was all Phil and Tommy could say, frowning. Then, Ranboo touched the ashes and suddenly had a freakout, jarring them with his panic.
"No, No, NO, NO!!!"
Then, the lights of his mask came on and all of them were impressed.
"Daaamn, Boob boy! He really pulled out all the fucking stops for this, holy hell!" Tommy said, eyebrows raised in surprise.
"No kidding! That's really cool looking and fits him so well!" Kristin said, also quite surprised. And then, they witnessed a major change in the young man's character, he was now acting like an actual NPC. And there was a strange but adorable character in the corner now.
""Hi there! My name is Squiggles! The lovable Showfall Media Mascot :)" Hmm, do you guys think we should trust this thing? Cause I dunno..." Wilbur muttered, frowning a little.
"I'd trust him with my life! That thing is adorable, holy shit man!" Tommy eagerly said as Ranboo suddenly turned towards the camera and pointed with saying;
"Hmm... That's a weird painting."
"Excuse me!? I am no painting, asshole!!" Joe said, slightly annoyed as the others chuckled. And then, the four prompts appeared after Ranboo mentioned searching for the keys all the while acting like a video game character. Tommy immediately chose the flute but it seemed like Phil was choosing the door, being the Dadza that he was.
"He needs to get out of there you guys!! Dammit, why's everyone choosing the bookcase?!" The blond man huffed goodnaturedly and then they all burst out laughing as Ranboo was assaulted by a shit ton of books.
"Goddamn, I guess we could say that he got schooled!" Mark said, making everyone groan.
"My fucking God, Wil, how the fuck do you stand this shit?! That was SO lame, seriously." Tommy deadpanned, only mildly serious while Mark looked faux offended as they returned to watching.
"See!! Squiggles agrees with me! I love this guy now, at least he likes puns!"
Everyone was giggling at that as Ranboo got up, looking very disgruntled and having found a key.
"Oh God... Knowledge can be... painful." The masked teen stated, making them snicker but for some reason, the words left a weird impression in Tommy's mind, especially coupled by the other statement by his friend before the mask turned on about things not being supposed to be like what it was, and the fact of the SOS Morse code. As they voted once more they amusedly watched Ranboo put some of the shards of the urn back up as if it was going to change anything. And when they approached the window, there was a devil silhouette there, making Tommy on edge.
"Oh crap, I don't think he shou-- Pffft! Is that Charlie?!" Wilbur said, starting to laugh. Tommy laughed as well at the cheesiness of the situation as Ranboo pocketed another key.
"That inventory looks neat though, I like it." Kristin said with a smile, looking proud of the masked teen. Tommy could say that he very much felt the same. The blond teen always had known that with enough time and money, Ranboo would achieve greatness via his sheer brilliance and this was proof enough.
Then, they saw him pick up a VHS called "Doctor Jekyll, Mr. Hyde" and say;
"'Doctor Jekyll, Mr. Hyde'? I mean, I don't-- Hydeing the key? No. Not there. Okay, that's... fine."
"Mark, I think you were a fucking terrible influence with them... That was even worse and I don't know how!" Ash said, grimacing in amusement as Mark squeaked in protest. Then, they saw the only vote option was the door, weirdly enough.
"What about the wall things though??" Tommy murmured as he clicked repeatedly anyways. Then, Ranboo opened the door and shocked everyone.
"Now hold up! Wasn't he in the woods before?! What the fuck is he doing at a beach now??" Joe exclaimed as they watched Ranboo look around with a weird expression.
"It's a weirdchamp beach too, to be honest, I feel uneasy just looking at that!" Tommy said, frowning and then, they saw something hilarious;
"Pocket sand!"
"Oh God, not another one!! Fucking hell!!" Phil groaned while the LoveJoy members, Wilbur included, were confused at Ranboo.
"Wilbur, he's turning into you!! Holy shit, if he eats it, I will never let him live it the fuck down! Oh my God!!" Tommy said, cackling. Then, after Ranboo went back into the room again with a jean pocket full of sand, Squiggles popped up with a quip about sand being useful.
"Useful...? Useful for what?! What the fuck can you use sand for?! And Wil, don't you dare say food or I will come over and fucking clart your ass!"
Tommy chuckled as Wilbur shut his mouth, flushing in annoyance. And then, after another humorous mishap involving bats, Ranboo had found all of the keys but just as they were going to the door, the door was kicked down;
"BOO BITCH!! See you found my cabin!!"
"Charlie!! Holy fuck, that's hilarious!! Just the look on Ran's face, oh God!!" Ash said, trying to be heard from the loud cackles of Wilbur, Tommy and Phil. He was laughing along though, since it was hilarious.
"He got consumed by smoke as well, this is so good!"
Then, after the hilariously awkward cooking show thing, they saw Ranboo find themself in the Slime Dimension, all of them were a bit grossed out until Charlie asked Ranboo what they thought.
"Uhh, it seems like a sticky situation."
"Holy shit, his puns are getting WORSE!! I agree with Charlie right now, just wow!!" Phil said burying his face in his hands while Mark and Joe cackled. But as the episode continued, things got weirder and weirder, Tommy could hardly shake off the feeling anymore when the screen suddenly started glitching and Ranboo's mask was blinking as well.
"The fuck??? What's going on???" Wilbur muttered as they watched the absolutely odd conversation between their friend and the mysterious figure in the TV, supposedly having "hacked" into wherever the masked teen was.
"Is he being held captive or something, you think?"
"Who knows? Let's watch on, I guess."
So they did, with Tommy absentmindedly petting the Techno Youtooz on his desk as they watched Ranboo finally find Sneeg, much to everyone's delight.
"This is getting better and better, honestly. I have the feeling we're in for a ride." Wilbur said, grinning.
"I thought he said this was going to be horror though. Not that I'm complaining, this is fun to watch but still, I'm a bit confused." Joe muttered raising an eyebrow at the comedic scenes with the plastic skeleton named Frank and Sneeg being fruity for it. They all shrugged, though Tommy knew that something was very odd, Ranboo did not normally act like this. He wasn't an NPC after all. He frowned slightly at how bumbling his normally smart friend was, trying to theorize where this was going in his mind when Charlie appeared and completely threw him off;
"AHAHAHAHA!! I AM STUCK TO THE BOTTOM OF THE BOX!!!"
"BAHAHAHA!! What the FUCK?! Was he genuinely stuck!?!" Tommy shrieked with laughter. The others were also quite amused but then a little disgusted as Sneeg became "Evil" and a really cheesy fight scene started, including Charlie calling himself a "Good boy", much to everyone's shrieks of laughter, even Kristin's. Then, the feeling of wrongness within Tommy returned tenfold after watching Ranboo just leave the bolt cutters behind when he knew that there was a chained door in the main room and then Sneeg saying that he couldn't read. He frowned a little, trying to piece things together to no avail.
"Okay, something is definitely up, Sneeg is not normally this confrontational, especially towards Ranboo. I don't know what the hell's going on though..." Tommy said after seeing Sneeg not believe Ranboo about the urn. They all paused and nodded as well, now starting to be concerned. And they were even more concerned when Ranboo went to sleep after they voted him to do so and the wall started moving with Charlie being absolutely out of pocket and amusing everyone. He'd even started twerking at one point, right above an "asleep" Ranboo's head.
"I am never letting Charlie live this shit down, holy fuck!" Wilbur said, nearly falling off his seat. Tommy was also close to doing so, unable to stop from laughing like crazy at the scene unfolding. Then, after the weirdly hilarious scene and Sneeg being condescending towards Ranboo, they saw Sneeg cut the weird wall, sassing all the way through only to find out there was a room back there.
"I think it may be the way out for them-- What the?! What IS that!?!" Kristin yelled as Sneeg got eaten from behind.
"Did he just get fucking VORED?! This is getting kinda concerning, not gonna lie, y'all!"
And then, they saw the monster that had just killed Sneeg's character, and connecting the dots from the start of the stream, Wilbur said;
"Okay, this is actually fucking cool, I'm pretty sure this is the monster we made as chat. Ranboo's team seriously deserves props for pulling all this shit together, holy hell! I mean, this is one of the most creative things I've ever seen on Twitch already and now this is getting even cooler. They outdid themself, that's for certain."
"Wilbur, don't be an idiot. Was there even any doubt at all that this was already gonna be cool as shit while listening to him ramble about it for over a year, mate? Seriously??" Phil said, raising an amused eyebrow alongside both Tommy and Kristin.
"No, of course not but honestly, even I didn't expect something this insane. This fucking kid is a genius, seriously."
Everyone nodded, Tommy even made the Youtooz nod, making everyone soften at the teen who was smiling at his screen while watching Ranboo have another very odd conversation with Charlie, glowing with pride for his friends.
"I really wish we got that song for this done in time though, it would've been so cool to have had a hand in this." Ash said quietly, shaking his head. The rest of the band nodded despite knowing Ranboo hadn't minded that much. Then, the weird ass fight with Charlie ended with Ranboo throwing, and comically missing, a towel at Charlie who somehow got absorbed into it. And when Ranboo picked it up, the screen glitched again.
"This again?? Wonder if it's that hacker guy..."
"I think so. It only happens when they come out." Mark pointed out and a moment later, he was right, the guy, Hetch, was giving Ranboo some strange instructions alongside the phrase of "Don't resist". Then, when Ranboo opened the dimension door one more time, he was jumped by two people and sedated, ending the stream.
"What the FUCK?!?! You can't fucking end there, you ass!!" Tommy cried as the others were frozen a bit. Then the blond grumbled as he tidied up his desk with the bowl of half eaten popcorn and the empty cans of soda.
"I'm gonna go to bed for now guys, see you tomorrow. Say hi to Ran from me if you call them!" Kristin said as she left the room while Phil stayed in call. Phil agreed and then, Wilbur decided to call Charlie instead, thinking that Ranboo may be too tired to speak after all.
"Hey Charlie! Great job, mate, we all loved your acting!!"
"Thanks man! It was so much fun to improv shit with the fucking idiot we have as a friend, honestly." Charlie said, sounding a little tired and irritated but mostly content. But his words confused everyone.
"Why did you just call Ran an idiot though? Is everything alright?" Wilbur asked, sharing a confused look with everyone in the call.
"Yeah, you saw how his mask can light up and shit, right? Turns out, this motherfucker accidentally uncovered a fucking live wire on his back for their setup when they laid down on the couch and proceeded to NOT FUCKING SAY A THING ABOUT IT and just spend the entire rest of the stream, nearly the entire hour, I might add, getting electrocuted in the spine!!! We literally had a safeword for this bullshit and they just didn't let anyone realize that!!!"
"He did WHAT?! Is he okay?! Get them on the fucking line, NOW!!!" Tommy yelled, looking horrified and pale at the knowledge.
"How the fuck did he endure THAT though?! We never noticed a damn thing!!" Joe said, sharing the look with Tommy and the rest of them, except for Phil who looked absolutely pissed.
"They've already been taken to the fucking hospital now, and I think he fucking bragged about it on Twitter, the fucking idiot... They're far too good of an actor to let anything fucking slip... I can't believe I'm friends with them sometimes, honestly..." Charlie grumbled. They all agreed and then, Tommy said something that made them amused, even Phil.
"Wil, I'm gonna call our tall bitch and fucking discipline his ass for this fucking shit! You guys can talk to Charlie, but I am calling Ranboob and telling him what's fucking what!! I'll be right back!"
Before anyone could say anything other than a snort from Wilbur and Charlie, Tommy immediately messaged Ranboo, asking for a video call with him after getting out of the call with the others, completely pissed off and horrified at the utter disregard his annoyingly taller friend showed towards their own health. Ranboo immediately accepted and called him, showing that he was in an ambulance like he'd shown on his Twitter post.
"Hey man! Isn't it a bit late for you over there?" He said, looking incredibly happy and satisfied.
"Ranboo, all I am going to say is that you are one talented and idiotic asshole! What the actual FUCK is wrong with you, mate?!" Tommy said, looking the complete opposite and making Ranboo look concerned immediately.
"What? What do you mean?? Seriously, are you okay? You sound a little sleep deprived, you know." The older teen said, obviously not knowing what was wrong, which made Tommy even more agitated.
"Ran, me and the rest of the SBI and LoveJoy watched the episode just now and Wil called Charlie and what the fuck do we learn?! You being a complete moron and disregarding yourself YET AGAIN!! I get that you're really fucking good at acting but come on, mate, you need to get a fucking grip on this shit, you're very lucky Kristin went to sleep before we heard about this, you wouldn't stand a damn chance in hell! Or should I say Christian Hell?!"
Ranboo looked completely taken aback for a moment before bursting out laughing, much to Tommy's annoyance before he softened with a gentler smile.
"Tom, I know you want the best of me and all, and I truly appreciate it, I really do. Hell, you stayed up to watch the entire thing even though I know for a fact that it's very late over there. But I couldn't just stop the stream right there, I didn't want to disappoint anyone, you know. I worked far too hard to do that."
"Ran, please, I know you're a fucking people pleaser and shit but this is ridiculous. You wouldn't have disappointed anyone, didn't you fucking see the replies on your post?! You instead chose to worry us, me, and just kept going. You really need to stop doing that, we love you too much, big man, to let you be this cruel to yourself. All of us are fucking upset with you for this, just so you know. Well, I need to go tell the others you're fine. Expect a call from Philza Minecraft though, he's definitely crafting a belt as we speak."
"Oh... Okay, I guess... But before you go... Can I ask you something...??"
"Sure, shoot away, big man."
"Did you... Did you like the episode? I was so nervous during it you wouldn't fucking believe..."
Tommy had to smile at how insecure his sweet friend suddenly sounded, shaking his head a little in amusement.
"Boo, we all absolutely loved it, every second of it. Some parts were a bit weird, but they were all amazing! Especially since you were fucking being electrocuted during it and didn't even show a fucking thing. You really are a fucking talent, don't you forget it, alright? I really should go the fuck to bed though, see you soon, man. Great job."
"See you later man. Thanks for that, I... I needed that. Good night to you."
After they hung up and Tommy briefly told the others about how the call went, making both Wilbur and Phil facepalm, he said he was going to sleep and wished everyone a good night before changing into his pajamas and going to bed with a smile on his face.