Sorry today's chapter is a little late!

TW: brief mention of (mostly just hinting at) tr*uma, ab*se, alcoh*lism, and an emotional breakdown. Read at your own discretion.

Happy reading!

Tommy explained everything. Tubbo didn't think for a second that he could be lying. It sounded too much like Ranboo for it not to be true. Techno and Wilbur were both talking, saying words that fell deaf on Tubbo's ears.

Tubbo's hands sparked. They crackled and popped. He barely noticed. His mind felt frozen. A clock on the wall ticked. And ticked. And ticked. Pressure was building behind Tubbo's eyes. Ranboo was alive. Alive. And he left him behind.

Tubbo didn't realize he was hyperventilating until Techno's hands were on his shoulders and he was telling him to breathe. But Tubbo didn't feel like breathing. Some emotion was brewing in him. Something darker and more violent than grief. Something that wasn't quite rage, but felt an awful lot like it.

He knew he needed to get himself under control. He'd been keeping it under control for weeks. Hell, he'd been keeping it under control for his whole fucking life. When his dad got drunk, when he got kicked out, when he had to steal to eat, when he was on the run from the cops, when his best friend, his husband was brainwashed- not once had he ever lost his head.

But now, but now. But now his emotions felt like popcorn in a microwave. They heat up and heat up until eventually, suddenly, they POP.

POP.

BOOM.

Powers weren't uncommon for people to have. Fundy could shapeshift. Phil could fly. Techno could put things in a pocket dimension. Quackity could... something, no one's really sure, he's really secretive about it. Regardless, powers were typically useful, awesome, and completely random.

Really, if you asked Tubbo, he'd say that he got the short end of the stick when it came to superpowers. He couldn't fly or whatever. His power was explosive.

Miniature explosions, almost like tiny fireworks, erupted from his hands. Miniature, but deadly. Objects close to him went flying across the room in pieces. He didn't care. He wanted to destroy something. He wanted to destroy someone. His fury exploded and consumed everything, until it finally sizzled out.

When the smoke cleared and his thoughts thawed, he took in his surroundings. Wilbur's foresight, thank god, had allowed him to pull Techno back before the explosions could hurt him. The nearby furniture hadn't been so lucky. Wilbur's desk was ruined. Tubbo took in the sight of the charred desk in horror. That could've been Technoblade. Oh, god. That could've been Technoblade.

That could've been Technoblade. Against his will, the image of Techno with deformed skin and half his face missing came to mind. That could've been a person. If Wilbur hadn't pulled him back-

Someone lightly rested their hand on his shoulder and he flinched away from the touch. "Tubbo- Tubbo, look at me, can you do that?" Tubbo pried his gaze away from the desk and met Wilbur's eyes. He looked concerned but firm.

Tubbo's mouth felt dry. "I'm sorry about your desk." He said hollowly. Wilbur shook his head.

"I don't give a shit about the desk- are you okay?"

Tubbo pushed past him. He felt them all watching him as he walked out the door. He didn't care. Now he only had one thing on his mind.

He was going to figure out how to get his husband back.

After Tubbo left the house he started walking down the street. His mind was racing. Every new idea and plan was more risky than the last. None of them ended well.

By the time he'd reached his destination, he still hadn't come up with a decent enough plan to rescue Ranboo. The main problem was his lack of information. He still had no fucking clue how Dream's mind control worked, or how to get rid of it, or how Ranboo was able to temporarily evade it.

He knocked on the apartment door and waited as he heard footsteps approaching on the other side. Eret's face appeared and morphed into surprise. "Tubbo? I didn't think you'd be here for another few hours-"

"Where's Michael?" Tubbo interrupted.

"Oh, he's in the kitchen eating lunch. Would you like to-" She was cut off again by Tubbo storming past him and walking straight to the kitchen. To his son.

The boy was sitting and happily eating mac n cheese. He looked up and grinned at Tubbo, and little bits of food were smeared on his face. The boy stopped eating and reached up towards his father. Tubbo felt like sobbing.

He reached down and picked his son up out of his high chair. He didn't care that he was messy and covered in food. He held him in one arm and used the other to grab a napkin so that he could wipe off Michael's face. Once he was cleaned up a little, Tubbo shifted the boy so that he was supported by both his hands and held him close, gently combing his hair with his fingers. Michael played with his father's hair too, grabbing at the messy ends and twirling it around like he was trying to braid it but not knowing how.

He wasn't gonna be like his own father. He was gonna be a good dad to his son. He was gonna be a good husband to Ranboo. He just had to figure out how to get him back, so that they could be a family again. He just needed more information about Dream's mansion.

Tommy has information. The thought was provided by the back of his mind, flitting through his brain like a butterfly. He caught it.

Oh.

Oh.

Eret: hey did something happen?

Eret: tubbo's acting weird

Wilbur's phone shook in his hand. Which, honestly, wasn't that strange. His hands were always shaky.

Wilbur: Weird how?

Eret: idk how to describe it

Eret: just not normal

Wilbur: Are any of us normal? Lol

Eret: lol

Eret: srsly tho

Eret: he's not listening to a word i'm saying

Wilbur: I guess you could say something happened, it's a long story. I'll have to fill you in later. What's he up to now?

Eret: he just left and he took little mike with him, i think he's headed back to your place

Wilbur: Thanks for the update

Eret: np

Eret: hey, let me know if there's anything i can do

Eret: he's hasn't been doing too great since... well, y'know, the whole ranboo thing

Wilbur: Yeah, about that...

Eret: ?

Wilbur: Never mind, I'll tell you later. I've got to get going, thanks again Eret!

Eret: istg are you serious rn?? you can't leave me on a cliffhanger like that man!

Wilbur: Sorry lol

Sorry indeed.

I honestly don't watch Eret's streams as much so I don't really have a good grasp on their character, so I hope the dialogue was okay lol

This chapter is a little shorter than I was planning, I got carried away writing another project (BOTW fanfic coming soon! :D) and so I didn't have as much time to write this chapter. Next chapter will probably be longer!

ALSO- the urge to have Wilbur be the one with the explosive power was great, but in the end I decided that it would be better for Tubbo to have it, both because of the irony and because it'll be VERY important in later chapters. :)

Hope y'all enjoyed! Have an awesome week!