Us Against the World

Chapter 9- BrOCCoLi

Long chapter pog?

A ton of POV switches bc I have the the attention span of an oversalted boiled carrot? less pog (but also in this chapter sorry heheheh)

IM SORRY WHAT 200+ READS WHAT?

enjoy you demon children.

TW/CWs: Blood, Not Sleeping?, Implied mention of Needles (very brief ), Anxiety, Panic Attack, Swearing, Implied Past Trauma?, Arguing

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Tubbo is a wreck.

A complete and utter wreck.

It's been twenty hours since Tommy and Ranboo have been arrested, and the bee hybrid has been awake and working for all of them. Greasy hair is matted against his twitching antennae and his comfy heisting clothes are sweat-stained and rumpled.

Deep bags under his eyes are illuminated solely by the screen of Tubbo's laptop. Several empty soda bottles are scattered around, having been drained of their life-giving caffeine by the shaking teenager.

It took him that entire twenty hours to find which police station the pair were taken to, hack into the city records to find the blueprints and security measures and then finally get into the police database to find out when he should break in.

Stress and mistypes from his caffeine-induced shaking did not help him. Neither did the on and off ache in his chest.

Tubbo leans back in his chair, stretching and wincing as his joints crack loudly. When he ruffles his hair and de-rumples his clothes the exhausted but hyper teenager actually looks somewhat alive. Instead of like a coder-zombie.

"Welp," Tubbo claps once, the sharp sound echoing through the empty apartment, "Time to get ready."

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Philza is arguing with the Hero Council and the Chief of Police while Wilbur sits the back providing moral support and looking sullen. The Council is there via a video call on the tv and the Chief of Police is sitting across from Phil, red in the face and thoroughly done.

Looking unhappy at the decision the heroes seem to have made already Chief Wilson blusters, "Fine but-"

"Sir!" One of the officers burst into the room, looking panicked and nervous at having to interrupt such high-level people with bad news, "They're gone!"

"Gone?" Wilbur looks up from his fingernails, confused. He's clearly only heard that one word and is repeating it in hopes of clarification.

"What happened?" Wilson and Philza ask in unison, ignoring the confused siren.

"When Jenkins went to administer the next dose of anti-power agent, the tall one panicked again and managed to teleport both him and the raccoon out."

Wilbur and Phil exchange a glance before rushing out of the station. The officers will search the station- it's more useful for the pair of heroes to go and search the surrounding area for the escapees. Both heroes are hoping that the ender hybrid could only have teleported them somewhere nearby.

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A glitchy purple cloud appears on a rooftop several blocks away from the police station. It holds its shape just long enough for two disheveled figures to stumble out before the cloud disappears, leaving only a few glitchy purple particles behind.

The blonde teenager seems more shocked and surprised than anything else. Blood is matted into his golden hair, but adrenaline seems to have the boy functioning properly for the time being at least.

"HOLY FUCK! WHAT THE- you okay?"

His companion, a lanky ender hybrid, is curled up on the ground, oblivious to the fact that the pair are, in fact, now on a roof instead inside of a jail cell. Intense shaking and the glitchy particles hint toward a panic attack, which is solidified by the ender boy's ragged breathing.

"Whoa, whoa. Okay Big Man, I need you to try and match my breathing alright?" The blonde takes the other's hand and puts on his chest, breathing exaggeratedly in the hopes that the other will copy.

Knowing that the "Five Senses" method will just bring up bad memories for the other and cause him to panic more, the raccoon hybrid instead asks his friend's preferred question, "What's the thirty-first element on the periodic table?"

"B- Bromine."

"Good. Eighth?"

"Oxy- Oxygen."

"I'm just taking your word for this, and it seems to be working. Sixth?"

Obviously calming down now, the ender hybrid answers instantly, "Carbon."

"Right then. Uh, twenty-seventh?"

"Cobalt," the taller is smiling slightly now, glitchy purple particles fading with his panic.

"Third?"

"Lithium!" Their smile is now wide, lighting up his eyes with childish glee, "BROCCOLI!"

"Wot?" the blonde looks up at the others face in surprise at the seemingly random vegetable, but he quickly glances away. Ender hybrids, like endermen, get agitated with eye contact, and agitating is the last this the raccoon wants to do to the anxious hybrid in front of him.

"Bromine; B-R, Oxygen; O, Carbon- C, Cobalt; C-O, Lithium; L-I. B-R-O-C-C-O-L-I. BROCCOLI!"

"Oh. That's nice big man. Is that why you like that?"

The ender hybrid nods happily. A few seconds later his smile slowly slips off their face as they start to remember what made them panic like that, "I didn't like that," he mutters as starts subconsciously fiddling with his hair, sorting the black-and-white mess into their proper sides.

"I know, big man. Don't think about it for now- let's just focus on getting home right now."

"Okay!" The taller takes the raccoon hybrids hand and lets him lead the pair in the direction of their house.

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Tubbo is preparing the final parts of his plan when the trackers sewn into the lining of their suits suddenly disappear. Naturally, he immediately panics, thinking that somehow the tiny devices were detected or the suits have been destroyed.

Then the two blips reappear, out of jail and on a rooftop a block behind him. Ah. Ranboo teleported them.

"That's convenient," Tubbo mutters to himself as he quickly packs up his equipment. After giving the roof a hurried once-over to make sure he didn't leave any traces, Tubbo rushes to the slowly moving dots that are his brothers.

Thanks to the closeness of the buildings and his own gadgets, Tubbo makes it to the roof his brothers are stumbling across in less than a minute.

"Well, you two certainly made my job easier."

The two disheveled teens whirl around in a panic, relaxing when they see that it's only their resident chaos gremlin.

"Tubbo!" Tommy shouts helping Ranboo turn around and hobble towards the shorter hybrid.

"Hey Guys," Tubbo's smile is audible despite the striped mask covering his lower face.

Ranboo just gives Tubbo a hug, which is painful for both of them, though neither shows it. The pair of (platonic) fiancés are just happy to see each other. Just as Tubbo is about to pull away, he feels Ranboo start to shake with silent sobs.

Gently extracting himself from the tallest's arms, Tubbo takes on of his hands and rubs it soothingly, "You're out of there now. C'mon we gotta get home."

1089 words pog

did i write the elements thing by memory? yes. THERES HYRDOGEN AND HELIUM THEN LITHIUM BERYLIUM BORON CARBON EVERYWHE-

shut up.

vote or my sleep deprived gremlin ass will appear in your window tomorrow when you wake up >:]