Goretober - 2024

15. Uncanny Valley || Slimecicle & Ranboo (based off of the road trip stream)

They had been on the road for what felt like forever. The day dragged on and on and on, and everything looked the same, and Ranboo was starting to panic.

"Ranboo, do you even know where we are?" Charlie turned to them, glancing at their hands that gripped tightly on the steering wheel.

"Sure, yeah. No, I know where we are, don't worry about it," Ranboo said defensively, removing one of their hands from the steering wheel to pull their mask up their nose, their insides churning uncomfortably.

"Listen, dude, it's ok if you don't, I was just going to suggest that we pull over somewhere and ask for directions. It's not a big deal," Charlie said gently. A bit condescending, if you asked Ranboo.

"No, it's fine. I'm- we're gonna get there, it's fine," Ranboo muttered. It wasn't like there was anywhere to pull over at anyway, everything was just endless fields and maybe an occasional rock.

"You sure?"

"Charlie, where would I pull over at??" Ranboo's fingers tightened on the steering wheel, their breathing fast and erratic. "We're like, nowhere! We haven't passed a town for hours, and I'm starting to think we took a wrong turn on this straight road!"

Charlie laughed slightly, running a hand through his hair. "Well, yeah, I mean, isn't that the point?"

Ranboo wanted to squeeze their eyes shut or something else that might result in crashing the car. "Well then why did you suggest pulling over? And the point of what?"

"The point of this trip! It would kinda suck if I went through all the trouble to look like Charlie to then not lead you out here."

"N- wait, um- I- I'm sorry, what?" Ranboo stammered, feeling their heart sink as they gently pressed on the break, slowing from 50 to 30.

"He really didn't want to let me come, y'know, he put up quite the fight."

30 to 15.

"Are... are you not Charlie?" Ranboo whispered.

"What? Oh, no," Charlie laughed. "He's in the back. Or should be, if he didn't manage to escape.

15 to 0. So quickly the car lurched, even though 15 wasn't very fast at all.

Ranboo jumped out of the car, running around to the back and popping the trunk. Empty.

"Nah, kidding. I actually forgot where I left the body, if I'm being honest," Charlie said lightly, his breath brushing against Ranboo's arm.

They screamed and flinched away, moving back to the driver's side door. "What the fuck do you mean?" They shouted, feeling like they were about to yarf.

"Orrr maybe, I AM Charlie. Who's really to say," Charlie giggled, his grin just a bit wider than normal. His eyes just a bit brighter than usual.

"I- I- I could drive away right now, without you!" Ranboo cried, their chest moving up and down frantically, faster than a bird's breath.

"Ohh but if you did that, then you'd never know where Charlie is!"

"You just- he's dead, isn't he??" Ranboo asked.

"Well, not fully. I dunno, he certainly wasn't earlier."

"What are you?" Ranboo whispered, their voice quiet as they fought off a sudden lightheadedness.

Charlie grinned, his teeth sharper than they had been before, suddenly close enough to Ranboo that his finger started tapping on their chest. "Whatever you want."

His fingers started pressing into Ranboo's chest, cutting past their skin and digging into bone, until his fingers were fully stabbed into their chest.

Ranboo hardly had time to react, letting out a choked gasp, blood spilling out of their open mouth.

"It'll be fun to be able to look like you too, don't you think?" Charlie said pleasantly, pulling his fingers out with a suctioned sound, letting Ranboo collapse to the floor, blood trickling out of the four holes in their chest.

Charlie stretched, his limbs and torso lengthening, his hair growing, a mask starting to cover his face, until he was Ranboo.

"Hey, thanks for the fun body, sorry you'll never see Charlie again though," he said cheerfully.

The car door slammed just out of Ranboo's blurry vision, and the car drove off.

And no one was going to find them, they thought, because they were in the middle of the road going nowhere.