Souls for the Ender prince...

Almost losing control...

"Okay Phil I'm ready.." "Okay," Phil said cheerfully, clapping his hands together. "Just to see where you're at right now, we're going to fight slowly, just hand-to-hand. Got it?"Ranboo nodded, ignoring the way his legs shook beneath him.

It started off fine. Phil was clearly reading his movements, and it was easy to block and parry and hit where the man left himself open. Phil looked pleased. "A bit faster?" he suggested, and Ranboo agreed.

His mind started to go a little fuzzy on the edges, focused more on the fight than anything else. A block, a hit, a dodge. Careful not to move around too much or too quickly, you'll fall off. Don't let him hit you. Wait, what? He was just sparring. There was no way to fall off.

Fightboo, the voices chirped. Phil!! Fighting pog, missed this, go enderboy go!! Blood!

They got faster, stronger, more vicious. Philza was still clearly analyzing Ranboo, looking curious and a little concerned past his focus, but Ranboo was struggling to hold on to his memories, trying hard to remember that he wasn't really in danger.

Threat!! Killza, Chat chanted. Souls for the soul prince, killza, murderboo, death pog-

"Stop it," Ranboo hissed at himself. Phil took the distraction to get a hit in on him, and Ranboo screeched, vanishing and appearing a few feet away, out of the training area. He grabbed his head. They were so loud. "Stop it, stop it, stop, quiet, please," he whimpered, collapsing to his knees.

SOULS FOR THE ENDER PRINCE.

They wouldn't stop screaming.

There were footsteps nearby. Ranboo wanted to run, to scream, to hide, but he was on his feet in a second, holding Pickboo like a lifeline and snarling at his new opponent.Technoblade regarded him blankly. His stance was open, nonthreatening. He didn't have armor or weapons.Philza was nowhere to be seen, a clear set of footprints in the snow leading away from the area."Ranboo," Techno greeted quietly.The voices surged again, and Ranboo stumbled, clutching his head with a whine. He shuddered.

"Ranboo," Techno said again. "Is it okay if I touch you?"

BLOOD BLOOD SOULS KILL KILL BLOOD MURDER EAT THEIR SOULS-

A warm hand brushed his, and Ranboo froze.

His hand was gently pried off of his death grip on Pickboo, which was set on the ground, and Techno's hand enveloped his.

Ender Prince? Blood God and Ender Prince? BLOOD KILL technosoft ranbrother KILL aww Farming Awws

His other hand was pulled away from his head. Ranboo, stiff and frozen and overwhelmed and confused, was pulled forwards. A warm body held his as the wind howled around them.

One. Two. Three.

Quiet.

Ranboo shuddered again as the tension left his body, sighing a little in relief.Seconds passed as Ranboo tried his best to remember what they'd been doing, tried to repair his own mind, tried to sort through his thoughts. Once he felt like he wouldn't fall apart again, Techno spoke, vibrations of his voice against Ranboo.

"Better?" Techno said.

"Yeah," Ranboo breathed.

A beat. "Voices, huh? Sucks sometimes."

Ranboo let out a breathy, incredulous laugh. "You too?"

"Of course," Techno said, sounding mock-offended. "I'm the original. You're just stealing my thing."

"Sorry," Ranboo said, a little too honest to be joking.

"Nah, it's cool. Good to know you're not alone."

Ranboo pressed his face a little more into Techno's shoulder. A few more beats of comfortable silence, and then-"Do you remember the fights?" Techno asked, almost too quietly.Ranboo nodded slightly. "Too well. It's everything after that I forget. I never told anyone, and they didn't recognize me..."Techno let out a little huff. "Good move. Don't get bugged all the time and end up underestimated. Smart."The praise felt warm."So when Phil said you didn't know how to fight...?" Techno prompted, a little teasing."He didn't have enough evidence, and I lied through my teeth," Ranboo responded, grinning."No sword?"Ranboo nodded at his pick. "Battle pickaxe," he said solemnly.Techno looked actually kind of impressed. "Stealthy, nice. You know how to use a sword, though, right?""Of course," Ranboo said, frowning. "Would've died a lot more if I didn't."Techno nodded, actually smiling, and started to stand up. "Can you walk?" he asked.

Ranboo nodded and stood, immediately stumbling. Techno grabbed him and silently helped him inside, letting him rest on the couch and turning to a concerned Philza Minecraft.

They had some explaining to do to Techno and Phil.