Midnight Arson (Platonic! Ranboo x Tubbo)

Chapter 16: A Father's Wish

(!) Trigger Warning: stab wound, blood, dead body (!)

"Sapnap, focus! We're almost there!"

"Alright, alright. Geez, Fundy. You're so pushy." Fundy rolled his eyes as he let out a sigh of exasperation.

The sun had just started to rise over the horizon when the fox hybrid had received word from Ranboo. According to the letter, it seemed that Tubbo had been summoned by King Eret under what the monarch called "extraordinary circumstances". Over the past several days, the king had observed the shadows of the castle moving in unusual ways, as if creatures were lurking under the cover of darkness. Eret had heard of Tubbo's stellar reputation in regards to all things paranormal, and so, he decided to hire the boy to investigate.

With Tubbo being out of the picture, and Ranboo off on some errand, that left Fundy with only one option- 

"Hey, let's go kill that that spider over there." 

"No, you idiot! Just- ugh, come on."

In the glory days of dreamon hunting, Tubbo and Fundy had enlisted a young recruit, an intern by the name of Sapnap. Sure, the man excelled in all things combat, but he lacked the common sense of discipline and focus. The fox hybrid often felt he was babysitting his human counterpart, but this time, Fundy didn't have a choice: diving into a dreamon den alone was suicide. He needed Sapnap to survive.

As the two hunters approached the castle entrance, Fundy asked, "Hey, so, have you noticed anything weird about the castle recently?"

Sapnap shrugged. "I don't know. I mean, I've seen Bad and Quackity around a lot more recently, but nothing crazy. Why?"

"Oh, no reason."

The pair finally crossed the threshold into the grande throne room, only to be met with silence. Fundy cupped his hands around his mouth and hollered, "Hello? Is anybody there? Eret?"

All of a sudden, Sapnap gasped. "Fundy! Look!"

The fox hybrid glanced in the direction his partner pointed, and immediately, his stomach dropped. There, just before the throne, lay the lifeless body of King Eret. "Oh, no."

"ERET!!"

The hunters charged down the red carpet to crouch at the side of the fallen monarch. "Look! A stab wound!" Sapnap noted. "He was murdered!" Indeed, the man was right, for a knife-sized hole had torn through the king's cloak, and he'd been stabbed in the back. The blood had already dried.

Fundy stooped down low to the body, leaning in so his snout was just inches from the wound. "Ew! What're you doing?!" Sapnap yelled, disgusted by his partner's actions. Didn't he have any respect for the dead?

"Just shut up!" Fundy snapped. "I'm investigating a murder."

Using his enhanced sense of smell, the fox hybrid detected the faintest trace of a pink-spotted daisy. And that could only mean one thing- "Poison," Fundy reported, leaning away from the body. He came to a stand, and sighed. "Eret was poisoned."

"Wha- Poisoned?!" Sapanap yelped. "Who would poison Eret?!"

"I think I might have something to do with that."

From the shadows of the throne room's east wing, wisps of a thick, black fog emerged. They curled through the air, bleeding into the throne room and surrounding the hunters. Sapnap gulped as he joined Fundy. "I don't like the looks of this," he whined. "Look at all those dreamons..."

"Shh!" Fundy whispered. "There's someone coming."

Sure enough, a dark figure pierced the smokey veil and waltzed into the throne room. They walked with a calculated malice, as if they enjoyed making the hunters wait in suspense. Once the humanoid finally stepped into the light, Fundy clenched his fists in anger. "I should have known it was you,...dad."

*GASP!* What is Fundy's father doing there?! Is HE the one behind all this?!

Vote to save the dreamon hunters!!

As always, thank you so much for your generosity in support everyone!! Y'all make me smile every day. <333

[Image Credits] "Poison" (Cropped Slightly) by Andrew Kuznetsov (https://www.flickr.com/photos/-cavin-/407908500)