"Hey Ranboo-" Toby jogged over to the taller boy in the hallway. The lunch bell had just rang, and he'd wanted to catch him before they met up with the others

"Hey Toby-" Ranboo waved as the smaller boy approached, "What's up?"

"Just wanted to make sure you were ok after the other day. You seemed pretty spooked, y'know?"

"Oh yeah-" Ranboo said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck, "thank you-" he looked around, then gestured for Toby to follow him. They peeked into a classroom, and when they found it empty, They quickly ducked inside.

"I'm gonna be honest, I was a little more than freaked...I saw the news story, and part of me started thinking he was talking about me...then the rational part of my brain reminded me that he doesn't even know I exist, so...probably not.." Ranboo explained, "Still couldn't help but worry though...no ones broken into the treasury before..."

Toby nodded, "Yeah...it's a bit scary..but I do think you're safe. My guess is that he was looking for Tubbo."

"I mean, that makes a lot more sense than me, but why would he be after you..?"

"We've...fought before" Toby admitted, "just once though."

"You're serious?"

"As a heart attack big man- remember Niki the other day? That trouble I helped her out of? She's the girl I saved that i told you about a little while back-"

Ranboo's eyes widened, "that is both incredibly cool and seriously scary-"

"You're telling me-" Toby sighed, "she actually figured it out herself, scared the hell out of me a bit to be honest." He chuckled, then continued. "As for Schlatt, the good news is he won't be able to find me easily...Or at all hopefully, but I might as well be prepared for the worse, yeah?"

Yeah- yeah no that's smart." Ranboo nodded

"Oh, that reminds me! I've been meaning to add you to a group chat- the Tubbo group chat as I like to call it." Toby explained, "It's for the people who know my identity, and it can be our sort of support system. If anyone is in trouble, or anything like that, we can reach each other!"

"How many people are in it?" Ranboo raised an eyebrow

"Well, including you, three." Toby said sheepishly, "other than you There's me and Niki-"

"Well I'd be honored to be part of this group chat-" Ranboo nodded, grinning, "now let's get to lunch, I'm starving-"

They made it to the lunchroom, sitting at their usual table with their friends.

"Where were you two?" Quackity asked

"Oh, just homework stuff...I was helping Toby with something for a class-" Ranboo answered, Toby nodding next to him.

The rest of the day went normally, much to Toby's relief. He checked his phone a few times during the day, seeing Ranboo and Niki introduce each other again in the group chat and talking and stuff. He smiled, glad they were getting along.

That night, his bandana was in the wash again, much to his chagrin, but he did still want to be sanitary as a hero. He'd been borrowing Tommy's bandana and it hadn't been an issue, he always threw it in the wash with some other stuff and Tommy was none the wiser. He didn't wear it too frequently. It was his "party bandana" as he called it. Toby's hoodie had been washed earlier, and his head actually felt better than it had been, so he wanted to go out and do some hero work. He saw Tommy's bandana in the clean clothes and grabbed it, heading upstairs.

That evening had a deeper chill than they usually did, Toby wasn't sure if it was an omen or just the weather. Probably the latter. He wished he had added goggles to his costume before, they helped his eyes against the cold, and could serve a lot of practical uses outside of just helping him hide his identity. He made a mental note to thank Niki for giving him the idea-

He did his usual perimeter patrol, hopping from building to building. He'd gotten the hang of doing so, and it had become a fun activity to do while he was out. Things were peaceful for a while, but as he was heading back to his usual lookout spot, he heard a yell from close by. The yell sounded familiar.

He jumped down to the sidewalk, rolling before looking around. He got up and ran towards the alley where he heard the yell, and froze when he saw the scene in front of him.

Schlatt. Schlatt was here, and he had Quackity pinned to the wall by his throat, his feet dangling above the ground. Tubbo clenched just fists, no way. He wasn't going to let this villain hurt his friend...even if neither of them knew it.

He threw his arms out in front of him, sending the puppet strings towards Schlatt immediately. He pulled the strings hard, causing Schlatt to jerk and release Quackity. The boy fell to his knees, coughing violently. Tubbo kept his hold on Schlatt, preventing him from moving. Quackity slowly got up, moving quickly to Tubbo's side. Things had been going well up to that point.

So of course that's when searing pain tore through his head on both sides. He gasped in pain, grabbing his head. This was worse than it had ever been. At one of, if not the worst time- Schlatt was running at them, free from Tubbo's power thanks to the headache, and now that he'd looked him in the eyes, his powers would be out of commision for at least ten minutes...dammit!

"Run!" He yelled at Quackity, pushing him behind himself, and away. He was thankful when his friend did, hesitantly but he did.

Tubbo turned back and barely managed to dodge Schlatt's punch. His only advantage here was he was much smaller than the ram horned villain so it would be easier to dodge him for the most part...though that was a small consolation given the situation.

"So we meet again little hero-" Schlatt smirked, yellow eyes glinting, "I see you've changed a few things..."

Tubbo glared, wincing slightly. god his head was killing him-

"Not gonna talk back? That's a bit rude-" the villain sneered

Tubbo shook his head, getting into a fighting stance, "My brother always says that the only language worth speaking in these situations is violence, I happen to be fluent-"

"Fun family, i happen to be pretty well versed in it too-" Schlatt cracked his knuckles

"Let's have a conversation then!" Tubbo ran at Schlatt and the two began battling.

He wanted to give Quackity enough time to get away, and if he was able to deal some damage to the villain now all the better. Of course the growing headache was making things about ten times harder, but he was holding his own for the most part. He dodged, kicked, punched and jumped. As he did, he silently thanked Techno for all the fighting and self defence training. Schlatt managed to hold his own too though...

Tubbo was doing really good until his head exploded. He had jumped back from Schlatt, when his head felt like it was bursting, he stumbled and caught himself against a wall, but when he turned, he saw Schlatts hand coming straight for his face. He tried to dodge but he was too slow. But instead of getting grazed by a punch, the lower half of his face suddenly felt cold and he realized what had just happened. Schlatt had grabbed the bandana. Not good, So very not good-

He ducked and bolted from the alley, hoping Schlatt hadn't gotten a good look. Sure the goggles helped a lot, but he didn't want to take any chances. Shit! His head was killing him, and he felt like he was about to pass out. He couldn't think straight, shakily making his way home, struggling to take some pain meds, barely managing to change into his pajamas, before crashing on his bed, swimming in and out of consciousness the rest of the night.

...

As Tubbo ran away, Schlatt didn't bother chasing him. He would find him soon enough. He grinned down at the red bandana in his hand. He glanced up as a teenage boy walked back into the alley,

"You're lucky I didn't need you Alexis, what if he had been at full capacity?"

Quackity grimaced, still rubbing his throat. He always hated people using his real name. "Sorry...I wanted to play the role of helpless victim...he told me to run so I did.." he glanced up at the villain, "Did you really have to choke me that hard? I could have passed out, or worse..."

"I had to make it look believable, didn't I?" Schlatt shrugged, patting Quackity on the head, "I wanted to play the role of ruthless villain attacking a helpless civilian. We both played our parts...now let's go."

"What are you planning to do with that?" Quackity gestured to the bandana. It looked almost familiar to him, though he couldn't place why.

Schlatt grinned, "I have a plan, you'll see"

Well that's not ominous at all- Quackity thought, not that he really cared. Tubbo was just a hero. A stranger who got in Schlatt's way...It didn't really concern him did it?

The two of them walked out of the alley, and made their way into the night.