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"Tommy– I know you think this is important, but I can't– I don't think you should have it, so I'm not gonna give it back to you."
Tubbo’s voice shakes, but he’s firm as he stumbles back on the pavement. They’re standing on the side of a highway bridge spanning a large river, but it's late enough that there’s no cars driving by. Only Tommy and Tubbo, dressed maybe a bit too lightly for the nighttime chill, and their– something between opponents and rivals. Ranboo, the mysterious and stern transfer student, and Purpled, a freelancer from out of town who came along at the gossip from the grapevine that Wilbur, the keeper of this town, had been grievously wounded.
Freelancer for what? Defeating Witches, of course. Tommy, Ranboo, and Purpled are Magicals: young people with extraordinary powers harnessing the wishes of the world. Or something like that. Ranboo is in his frilly purple dress and Purpled in a startlingly orange combat jacket, but Tommy has yet to transform.
That is, of course, because of the bright red Soul Gem clutched in Tubbo’s hand.
"Tubbo–" Tommy and Ranboo's voices overlap, both shouting from surprise and concern, but Tubbo shakes his head and takes a step back toward the edge of the bridge.
"No! Both of you need to just– stop it! Stop fighting!"
"Tubbo, there's bigger things going on here than you understand!" Tommy snaps, pointing at Ranboo. "If this bastard–"
"All of this Magical nonsense has gone to your heads!" Tubbo yells, shaking his head. "We're meant to be best friends, aren't we?! It feels like I can hardly recognize you anymore."
Tommy's eyes widen as he sees a tear drip down Tubbo's face. "Tubbo..." he whispers. The brunette is the strongest person he knows. If just this is enough to drive him to tears...
God, what has Tommy been doing?
"You didn't used to be this angry all the time," Tubbo whispers, voice shaking. "I think– I think all this Magical stuff is doing something worse to you."
"More than you know," Ranboo murmurs, meeting Tommy's immediate scathing glare with tired eyes. "I tried. I tried to stop you from becoming a Magical... I tried to warn you. Don't you remember?"
Tommy growls, anger stirring in his gut as he's forced to endure the transfer student's cold attitude. "It's because of him that Wilbur almost died," he snaps. Cold wind brushes his hair as the nighttime breeze blows through and shakes him to his core, reminding him of the anger that boils his skin.
"It's because of him that Wilbur didn't die," Tubbo responds, stepping back again until he's pressed against the railing of the highway bridge. It's hundreds of feet down to the river beneath them, so it's not like there's anywhere to go. What is he–
"I'm sorry, Tommy," Tubbo whispers. "But I think– I think this is for the best."
With that, he holds a hand out over the bridge, Tommy's soul gem shining with a bright red light against the darkness of the landscape behind it. Tommy and Ranboo's breath catch in their throats at the sight as time seems to stop for a moment, until Tommy barely manages to pull himself out of the shock with a yell and lunge for Tubbo.
But it's too late. The soul gem has already left his hand, falling down, down, down toward the dark, hungry waters below. That hopeful light flickers as it gets further away, like a siren for help, or the otherworldly stars above.
Well, until it winks out, too far from the bridge to be seen. Maybe claimed by the turbulent waves. Tubbo turns back to Tommy, a half-hearted apology on his lips, but jumps as the heavy weight of a body lands against his shoulder.
"Tommy?" He asks, shaking his friend's shoulder. "Big T, what's wrong?"
Tubbo grasps Tommy by the shoulders and tries to push him back up. However, the boy doesn't help, and for a moment he thinks Tommy's just being annoying or obstinate. But then Tommy's head rolls on his neck limply, and they all catch sight of his eyes– eyes that are meant to be bright blue, full of life like the summer sky, instead just a hazy, empty gray.
Tubbo screams.
'You shouldn't have done that,' XD chirps in that strangely cheerful tone of Its– though in this moment, what would normally be cute and reassuring just crawls its way up Tubbo's spine like a horde of ants. He shivers and turns to the small white blob, catching on the unassuming smiley face.
"Wh-What do you mean? What did you do to him?" Tubbo asks, voice catching on the weight of his fear, just as heavy as Tommy's limp, lifeless body in his arms.
'I didn't do anything,' XD replies, and Tubbo wishes he could say It sounded smug. Instead, it's worse: simply factual and unbothered. 'You did.'
"Oh no," Ranboo breathes, mismatched eyes widening in a moment of realization before he's moving, throwing himself at the edge of the bridge and leaping past the railing with an inhuman swiftness. Tubbo chokes out an aborted shout for the Magical, but he's already gone in a burst of purple energy.
Purpled, on the other hand, doesn't have any such reservations. He growls and spins his lance in a burst of frustration, pointing it down at the blob that has bounced Its way over to the railing. "Bullshit," he snaps, though the magical blob only tilts Its head in response to the threat mere inches from Its face. "Tommy's stupid, but he wouldn't just collapse out of nowhere. All that happened was his Soul Gem going over the edge, and now he's–"
"He's not breathing," Tubbo gasps, beginning to hyperventilate. "Oh god, he's not breathing–"
'I don't see what the big fuss is,' XD complains, sinking a bit in a strange imitation of a shrug. 'It's not like that vessel really matters anyway.'
"Shut up!" Tubbo shrieks, holding Tommy's empty body tightly to his chest, desperately trying preserve any warmth. "He's– He's dead! You can't just say that doesn't matter–!"
"Just tell it to us plainly," Purpled demands, eyes narrowed. "None of your ominous shit."
XD sighs, the blob somehow sagging even further as if this were such an unreasonable request. 'Well, your human bodies are just so very fragile,' It complains. 'So that's why we made Soul Gems! Regular bodies, if they undergo too much stress or damage, they just shut down. A shock response, or something. This way, you don't have to worry about any silly little superficial damage to the shells! As long as your soul is detached from the body, you can fight as much as you want, and just get up again!'
"Detached?" Purpled repeats back at It.
'That's right! Safe and snug in the Soul Gems! Of course, there's technically a risk of this kind of thing happening, but there's really never any reason for those to leave their safety radius.'
Purpled staggers back, hand flying up to touch the orange gem on his chest, as though making sure it's still there. Tubbo just stares up at the magical blob, eyes wide in horror.
To the side of the shell shocked group, there's a puff of purple magic as Ranboo reappears. The Magical is soaking wet as though stuck in a downpour–or perhaps, dunked in a lake–and his skin is red and splotchy from it, but of a much higher concern is the bright red gleam coming from his tightly grasped hand.
Ranboo doesn't even bother to say anything, just stumbling past Purpled and kneeling beside Tommy's prone body. He presses the glowing Soul Gem to Tommy's chest, and they all wait with baited breath for any sort of reaction.
After what feels like anywhere between hours and milliseconds, Tommy's eyelids twitch and he groans, blue eyes fluttering open finally. He looks up at them confused and tired, but breathing, alive.
Tommy offers them a slight smile and a thumbs up. "Ayup, boys?"
"Tommy," Tubbo sobs, collapsing on him and hugging him tightly.
"Big T?" Tommy chuckles awkwardly, confused as he pushes himself up to sitting. "What, uh, what's going on? You're acting like I died, or something." He laughs at he own joke, but it falls flat on the group.
"You are dead," Purpled mutters, point of his lance coming up from where it had dipped for a second to point, shaking, at XD's innocent face once again. "We're all dead! You've made us into– zombies, or something!"
'I don't see why it matters,' XD replies, unbothered. 'I mean, this way, you can be so much more! And really, you made the deal in the first place.'
"I'm sorry, Tommy," Tubbo sobs, burying his face into Tommy's chest and hugging him tightly. "I'm sorry. I never would have done it if I'd known!"
"Wait, what?" Tommy blinks, confused, while Ranboo sighs and steps forward to put a hand on Purpled's lance and lower it.
"Killing that thing won't do anything now," Ranboo mutters softly, though he does send the white blob a glare. "The deals have already been made. It can't undo them."
"This is fucked up," Purpled snaps, dismissing his lance reluctantly and wrapping his arms around his midsection instead. "This is– all of this. You didn't even tell us."
"You're right. It is," Ranboo agrees, giving Tommy a pointed stare for a long few seconds before turning away. "But there's nothing we can do about that now. Better to focus on the future threats."
"What do you mean?" Purpled asks, still tense.
'Yeah, what do you mean?' XD chirps cutely, smiley face tilting curiously, even though they'll never be able to trust it anymore.
"Something I'll speak with you about later," Ranboo tells Purpled, ignoring XD entirely. "This night has been long enough. Get home safe, all of you. No more fights."
"Don't tell me what to do," Purpled snaps, but he just huffs and jumps off back toward the city proper. Ranboo looks down at the two of them and nods once, before grabbing XD and disappearing in a flash of purple particles. Leaving them alone.
"Tubbo?" Tommy whispers, confused and scared. "What was... What was all of that?"
Tubbo swallows nervously and stands, holding a hand out to Tommy to help him up. "Let's... Let's go to Wilbur's, boss man. I'll explain what I remember, but he should hear this too," he explains.
"Okay," Tommy replies, trusting him completely. Tubbo tries not to think about how that trust had almost gotten him killed just minutes before.