A Literal Ghost of You

Chapter 1:

This has been a spur of the moment book and I probably won't update it often (knowing me that wouldn't be true)

But here's AU
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Crashing through the bushes, Tubbo's legs just barely kept him going, running away from who he thought was his friend.

"Ranboo! Why are you chasing me?!" He tried to speak to the enderman, right on his tail—literally.

When he tried to get a look at Ranboo, he saw no emotion on his face, and then suddenly he was gone.

Tubbo kept running, only to run right into his chaser—now realizing that he must've teleported.

Ranboo had a shovel in his hands, probably the first thing he could get his hands on. He held the shovel over his head, swinging it down.

Tubbo ducked out of the way, starting to run again and trying to ignore the burn in his chest. Ranboo wasted no time continuing his chase.

The shorter took a sharp left turn, hiding behind a tree. Shoving his hand against his mouth, he tried to be as quiet as possible when he heard footsteps pass by.

The footsteps got quieter, Tubbo making the assumption that Ranboo lost track of him. He peeked around the tree, being met with a metal shovel to the face.

He fell to the ground, in pain and covering his right eye. He stuttered out words that were quickly drowned out by the sound of the shovel making impact again.

***

Sat in the prison, Dream lifted his head, blinking in surprise. A smile spread across his face. There's no way—he actually did it.

He started to laugh, which caught the attention of his tired cell mate. "The fuck are you laughing about?"

"Oh, nothing!~" He laughed more, "Nothing at all!"

"Then shut the hell up, I'm tired of hearing your voice." Tommy grumbled, resting his head on his knees again.

"You know what Tommy?" Dream didn't listen, "I think it's about time we get Sam's attention and get you out of here! What do you think?"

Tommy glared at Dream, "What is with you?"

"Don't you want to leave, Tommy? I think you've been here long enough." Dream started to make his way to the falling lava, calling for the prison warden.

Tommy watched Dream closely, not trusting a single thing he would say. As the lava started to lower, though, Tommy felt a bit of hope that he was finally able to see his friend again.

***

Ranboo stared at the scene in front of him, clutching the shovel tightly in his hands. "T-tubbo?" He stuttered. "I- oh god..."

Ranboo reached his hand over, giving Tubbo a light shake. His friend didn't respond. Ranboo sat on the ground, unable to take his eyes off of Tubbo.

As usual, he tried to fight off the urge to cry. Even if it didn't burn him, he didn't deserve to cry. Not after this.

***

"Tubbo?" A voice caused the teenager to jolt awake.

"Good- god.." Tubbo mumbled, sitting up, "Huh?"

"What are you doing here?" They asked, causing Tubbo to look around, "Over here."

Tubbo jumped when he was suddenly face to face with Wilbur, "Ah! Oh my god-"

Wilbur looked Tubbo over, "If you're here for Tommy, you just missed him."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Don't you know what happened?"

"Not really.. my head hurts."

Wilbur rolled his eyes, "Come on. There's no going back anyway." He started to lead Tubbo away, occasionally making sure the teen was still following him.

Soon, Wilbur sat down, patting a spot beside him, "You sit too." Tubbo nodded, sitting down beside Wilbur with crossed legs.

"What did you mean by I missed Tommy?" Tubbo asked.

"He was here for a while, but I don't know where he went." Wilbur explained—kind of.

Tubbo looked down at his hands, "Does this mean I'm dead?"

"Yeah." Wilbur nodded, "Make yourself at home, you're gonna be here for a while. I would have a long monologue about you being here but I wasn't expecting it so soon, and I really don't care so... yeah."

"Gee, thanks." Tubbo mumbled, looking around for anything to do.

A light caught his attention, and he got up to go see what it was. Wilbur noticed that and was quick to stop him, "Don't go over there."

"Why?" Tubbo asked.

"It releases your 'ghost' into the world. I don't recommend it." Wilbur said.

Tubbo stared at the light, "Why?" He asked again.

Wilbur sighed, "You watch as the people closest to you grow to like your ghost more than you yourself, and there's nothing you can do about it."

Tubbo thought about it, and then shook his head, purely out of curiosity, he went towards that light.

He didn't feel any different, that kind of makes sense. He looked around, only seeing Wilbur looking away from him.

Tubbo assumed it didn't work, sighing and then going back to Wilbur, him being the only person I felt mildly comfortable around.

***

Panicked out of his mind, Ranboo was dragging Tubbo's body away. He heard voices talking distinctly, asking about screams they heard.

When he felt like he was decently hidden, Ranboo stared down at the shovel still in his hand. With much hesitation, he started to dig out a hole. He dug, and dug, until he believed it was deep enough.

He then placed Tubbo's body into the hole, starting to fill it again with dirt. He soon finished, placing flowers on the freshly dug dirt and sitting in silence.

The silence was broken when Ranboo spoke again, "I'm so sorry, Tubbo."