Sabre's defining flaw isn't that he's a dick. It's that he has big feelings and a small brain.
He does a lot of screaming when things go wrong. He sounds like he cares, but never thinks straight enough in stressful situations to fix the problem. In "THE FALL OF RAINBOW STEVE.", specifically, when Rainbow gets taken, Lucas tries to think of what could have happened to him, and Sabre, for no good reason, outright refuses to take any of his theories into consideration. It doesn't benefit Sabre to doubt Lucas, especially when they wouldn't know how to get to Rainbow in the first place. Sabre's just saying shit because he's panicking.
He only calms down after failing to summon Rainbow via machine, asking "What if he's just gone?" and humoring Lucas' idea that he was sent to the Nightmare dimension. I definitely believe Sabre talks and yells as much as he does to keep himself from feeling down. Maybe he believes if he's loud enough, he can distract himself from how sad he is that his friend is in danger. Whenever Sabre panics, as is natural, he gets stupid. But a lot of things make him panic, because he cares about a lot of things, whether it's his Steve research and experiments, or his friend.
Everything was blurry and hot and wrong,and Rainbow Steve was so dizzy he thought he might be sick.
The lava coating every wall made the room suffocating,sea lanterns dotting the floor sending a buzz up his legs that he didn't particularly like as he weakly stumbled forward towards the player that had invaded this world a few weeks prior.
Said player was currently cooing to Rainbow like a dog,a lapis block in his hand. In a daze,Rainbow decided he wanted that block,following the chicken as he stepped backwards up some structure.
Like a fool,he dropped it atop yet another lapis block,so Rainbow rushed up to get it.
A lever flicked in the background,and the piston that bumped against his head jolted Rainbow into sudden realization.
He gasped and screamed,thrashing against the obvious machine that he had somehow gotten tricked into again. It all came back with painful clarity- the trap,the lava,the 50 signs crying out for help that he had painstakingly crafted every few days…the player who was senselessly rambling about RIPPING HIM APART-
Frantic and terrified,Rainbow tried everything he could to get out of the machine. Lightning crackled around him as he fought HARD to teleport out,the machine continuing to drag him back. The heat of the lava seemed to grow stronger even as pockets of water spawned,nothing wiped out the redstone,nothing even came close to stopping the machine he couldn't get out and that monster just kept endlessly saying his name in mock fear-
“RAINBOW STEVE! WOAHAOAHWOAH WHAT'S HE DOING?! I THINK I BROKE HIM! RAINBOW STEVE! RAINBOW STEVE!-”
“RAINBOW STEVE!!!-” A glitchy,high pitched voice called out as two mismatched hands gripped his shoulders.
Rainbow awoke with a gasp.
It took him several moments to recognize where he was.
He was…well,in his bed,yes. But. Not in his house…? Instead,they were out under the stars,the area around them looking somewhat destroyed.
Grass was singed by lightning strikes,massive water puddles littered the area. His bed was also a complete wreck,sheets all twisted and parts of it burned,it was also soaking wet and he didn't even know if that was from the water or-
Oh,and Hypno Steve. Hypno Steve was there. Holding Rainbow with possibly the most baffled and distressed look the lab-born Steve had ever had.
The two stared at eachother in silence as Rainbow grasped for anything to say. Thankfully,Hypno never learned to shut up,so he quickly broke the uncomfortable quiet.
“That was one hell of a nightmare.”
Having accomplished his goal of waking Rainbow up from the horrors,Hypno stretched (first like a normal person,and then like a cat,because it felt nice) and looked around.
“...thought you didn't have powers anymore!”
“So did I.” Rainbow finally managed to speak,looking at the disaster. “...don't…think Guardian is going to be happy about that.”
“Well it's a good thing his opinion doesn't matter!” Hypno chirped,catching Rainbow off guard enough to earn a surprised laugh.
“Hypno-! Yes it does???”
“Not to me,not if it's you~” Hypno quoted dramatically before flopping back onto the bed with a deeply pleased expression.
Rainbow heaved a sigh,pushing Hypno back up. “Don't lie in that. You don't know what it is. I…also don't fully know.”
Hypno blinked at him with the look of a person who may very well have known and just not cared,but let him have this anyway. His tail swished against the ruined sheets as he now looked upwards,his stitches glinting in the moonlight. Rainbow sighed again, leaning against him.
“...did I teleport us??”
“It seems so. That,or your entire house was stolen overnight. In which case it seems I finally have steves to hunt down!” He teased,eye sparkling.
“You’re taking this well.” Rainbow's tone conveyed more relief than he meant.
Hypno just shrugged.
“This isn't even close to the weirdest thing that's ever happened to me.”
Rainbow had to agree with that. Even still,he couldn't help but shrink in on himself as he glanced over the scenery and felt himself sitting on the (frankly,trashed) bed. His pajamas were all wet and wrinkled too,but at least they weren't THAT bad-
He nearly gave himself whiplash with how fast he turned back to look at Hypno.
…Rainbow's nightclothes were fine. Hypno's,however,were now very ripped and dirty. He was missing an entire sleeve,which Rainbow wasn't really sure how that happened,and just generally looked like more of a wreck than usual.
With a mortified groan,Rainbow threw himself back fully on the bed. This time Hypno pulled him up.
“Wha-??”
“Oh my GOODNESS I RIPPED YOUR SLEEVE OFF AND I TELEPORTED YOU IN THE MIDDLE OF NOWHERE AND I PROBABLY STRUCK YOU WITH LIGHTNING AND I GOT YOU ALL WET-” Rainbow rambled on about the list of crimes he had committed against Hypno as Hypno stared at him in confusion,tail twitching.
“...yeah,you certainly did!” He replied,far too chipper. “And you did amazingly,I might add! I pity the next idiot to double cross you.”
“But I-I didn't WANT to fight you!” Rainbow emphasized. Hypno was about to remark that he was in no way opposed to Rainbow fighting him and in fact found the concept pretty exciting,but stopped as he noticed Rainbow's upset expression.
The colorful Steve's lip trembled.
“This is the first time you stayed over with me,and I-I–” He stammered,burying his face in his hands. “I wanted to make it- YOU AREN'T EVEN GOING TO WANT TO HANG OUT WITH ME ANYMORE!”
Hypno's magenta eye stared at him. And then it promptly shut as Hypno started cackling,throwing his head back.
“Wh-Hey!” Rainbow yelped,heat rising to his face. “It's not funny,Hypno Steve! Y-”
“Oh my GOSH,that's what you're worried about?!” Hypno laughed,giving Rainbow a crooked grin.
“You think you can drive me away just like THAT??? Rainbow Steve,Rainbow Steve,Rainbow Steve! And here I thought you knew me better than that!!” Glitches weaved into his words as his tail started thumping.
“For YOUR information,I've already decided I'm staying over tomorrow night too!! >03”
Rainbow was about to ask how the hell Hypno just said an emoticon out loud,but he chalked it up to Hypno's usual freakiness and managed to register the rest of the sentence instead.
“...Really? B-but-”
“No b-but’s about it!” He declared. “You made the mistake of befriending me and now you're never getting rid of me,and that's final. 0>”
Rainbow allowed himself a small smile.
“Um…thank you.” He said bashfully,brushing some hair out of his face. “I dunno why you WANT to,after that,but- I guess there's no stopping you…??”
“There is not!!” He exclaimed proudly.
“...Alright then.” Rainbow giggled. “You win.”
“I always do,don't I?” Hypno grinned before stretching again and standing up.
“C'mon. We've still got a few hours left until morning. No point in staying out in the middle of nowhere!”
Rainbow slowly stood up.
“What do we do about the mess,though…?”
Hypno hummed.
“If we find some grey or black dye- or some fire charges-,we could probably pin it on Dark.”
Rainbow snickered,rolling his eyes.
“You are never going to let go of that grudge,are you?”
“What do you think? I haven't forgiven anyone who's hurt you,and would ya look at that,he falls right under that list!”
“Of course…” Rainbow shook his head with a smile as Hypno took his hand and started walking.
The moon and stars lit their path quite easily as the two wandered aimlessly around,enjoying each other's company.
“You know,I've yet to meet someone as happy and also as constantly ticked off as you are-” Rainbow giggled,swinging Hypno's arm.
“I take pride in being the resident loving asshole!” Hypno did a mock half-bow. “Besides that! If everyone was less stupid around you,I would be less ticked off! Eventually. Change starts with them.”
“ ‘kay,first of all,it's supposed to be lovable asshole-”
“Close enough <3”
“And secondly,not EVERYONE is stupid! I mean,Sabre-”
Hypno's expression harshened instantly. Rainbow stopped his sentence.
“...O-oh,did you-”
“Yeah. …Yeah. I…might still have some powers,too.”
Rainbow would complain about a breach of privacy,but he honestly didn't mind not having to explain that awful nightmare.
“...he got better. At least stopped torturing me on purpose-”
Hypno grumbled,glaring off into the distance as he tightened his grip on Rainbow's hand.
…Rainbow raised an eyebrow at him.
“...are you seriously being protective over me? You??” A smug smile crept across Rainbow's face,like he'd caught Hypno out on something.
Hypno's tail twitched before dissolving into a wag,happily letting Rainbow win this.
“Ah,you caught me. It only took several generations,but regrettably,I've gotten attached to you!”
“Whaddya mean “regrettably”?!” Rainbow laughed,lightly punching his arm.
“It's a real tragedy!” Hypno continued,giggling. “I was all on track to become the world's greatest villain!”
“I nearly beat you senseless and you know it-”
“Oh I can ASSURE you I still had all my senses~-”
“Shut uppp-”
Rainbow nearly shoved Hypno down a hill,but Hypno back stepped,making Rainbow fall forward instead. Thankfully,Hypno promptly scooped him up into his arms,and the two continued on their way.
“Am I that easy to carry??” Rainbow questioned,almost instinctively curling against him.
“Mhm!! I could lift you with my tail.” He curled in over his shoulder and Rainbow briefly bapped at it like a cat toy.
“Huh! …Fluffyyy…”
Hypno snickered,moving it closer to him.
Eventually,the two of them came across a river. Hypno sat down at the bank,lowering his feet and then legs into the water and gently kicking them. Rainbow's heartbeat against him had slowed down considerably (good) and he hadn't done any of those weird deep breaths (even more good).
“...sorry about your shirt-” Rainbow piped up,still mildly embarrassed.
“Oh,yeah,that!” Hypno held out the arm with the sleeve still on. “Quick,make it even!”
“...bweh- I mean,what-?”
“Come onnnn,rip it off! I can't only have one sleeve,haha-!”
“O-okay-??”
Though utterly baffled,Rainbow ripped the other sleeve off. Hypno grinned, promptly tying it into a friendship bracelet and gifting it to Rainbow.
“Once we find wherever the hell you launched the other one,you can give it to me!”
“Ah,yes,the perfect present- heheh-”
Hypno laughed quietly,nuzzling the top of Rainbow's head.
“...hey,Hypno?”
“Hm?”
“You were watching over everything,right?”
“Yyyyep!”
“...were you there,when…” Rainbow trailed off. He didn't have to say it.
“...I was. Yeah.” Hypno admitted,holding the hero close. “Too soon to reform and break you out of there,or I would have. I even tried- my energy was just too low…”
He rubbed Rainbow's back as Rainbow lowered his feet into the water as well.
“I was able to give you some of the little I had left though. Thank goodness.”
Rainbow squeaked,blinking at him.
“Wait,what?!-”
“You were in there for way too long!” Hypno huffed. “I wasn't gonna do NOTHING! >0/”
Rainbow stared at him in silence before smiling and successfully managing to hold back his tears.
“You're really sweet,you weirdo.”
“Thanks! I enjoy being the weird creature that follows you around and scares all your other friends!”
“You don't scare the ones worth keeping around.” Rainbow giggled. “Or,they warm up to you eventually-”
Hypno nodded,before smiling mischievously.
“Know what I think?”
Rainbow tilted his head curiously.
“FUCK Sabre.” Hypno declared. “He's terrible and I can't stand him.”
Rainbow's jaw dropped at the language before he started quietly giggling. That dissolved into full on laughter,and soon they were both hugging eachother and cracking up. Then Hypno leaned forward and they both tumbled into the river,which thankfully only made them laugh more.
…
Hypno and Rainbow leaned against the bank,half treading water and yapping endlessly about anything they could think of. Hypno seemed perfectly content,and the prickly shame from Rainbow's nightmare accident had faded.
Hypno's ear twitches as he briefly glances away from Rainbow to witness the sun rising,pinks and yellows and orange dancing across the water the two were submerged in.
“...ah. We never did find any dye for the bed.” Rainbow lamented.
“There's prob’ly a squid or something in here we can use!” Hypno looked down through the water as Rainbow laughed softly.
Then he went quiet again,taking Hypno's hand and making the stitched steve look back at him.
“... I'm really happy I met you,Hypno.” Rainbow said quietly,looking deep into Hypno's eye. “I know we've both been through…well,disaster,before and after the seven generations,but- …I'm really,really happy I met you.” He beamed.
Hypno's eye watered before he quickly blinked it away,giggling.
“You're a weirdo too,you know that-?”
“Oh- you're worse! You're- like- a weird little freak! Was that too mean-”
“I'm your freak.” Hypno said proudly.
“You have to put up with me for the rest of eternity,Rainy!”
Rainbow giggled.
“Oh nooo,how horrible! Hehehe-”
Hypno purred,running a hand over Rainbow's hair.
“...I'm happy I met you too.”
Rainbow nuzzled against him.
“... we're going to have to find a solution to me wrecking the bed every time I have a bad dream.”
“Well I do still have powers. I could always bring you into my dreams instead!”
“Right,like they're any better-” Rainbow rolled his eyes.
“No no,they are. My dreams are really nice,actually.” Hypno wrapped his tail around them both. “And it's not like they'd be shocking. They'd all be pretty familiar to you,actually.”
Rainbow gave Hypno a confused look,and Hypno laughed.
“After all,all I dream about is you.
You're my entire universe,Rainy. You really are.”
Rainbow thought about calling him a dork,or bursting into tears,or perhaps just generally doing something stupid. But thankfully,the stars aligned to let Rainbow make a good decision,and so Rainbow just kissed him.
Hypno purred loudly,pulling him closer as the already foggy memories of Rainbows quickly faded away in the wake of this new happiness.
His feelings about Sabre might be muddled,but at least what he and Hypno had was perfectly clear.
Rewatching early tss is crazy because everything is so much oompher if you think about it too hard.
That. That original blue Steve. From the first not deleted Steve saga video. From Sabre’s perspective he was a ruthless killer but… from his own perspective. He probably knew about Nightmare. Knew the situation was bleak. Knew the only way to possibly defeat Nightmare was to bring back Rainbow. He probably followed ancient scriptures to do so. Maybe from that temple he was in. I bet he knew in order to summon Rainbow he’d never see the light of day again. I bet he was willing to make that sacrifice in order to save Steve kind.
And then Light Steve. Oughhhhh my boy light. Sabre is basically his dad. I hc him as small and baby too so like AUGHHHH PAIN IN MY HEART💥💥💥💥💥💥 He was scared and shy and afraid. So new to the world. And he still fought Dark to defend Sabre, his dad and only friend, from danger.
Rainbow. He must’ve been so scared and confused while being experimented on. Literally memoryless after like 7 thousand years of sleeping. The first thing he sees when he wakes up is this THING that isn’t a Steve. This THING this UNIDENTIFIED CREATURE . So he attacks!!! With the powers he’s still learning he has!!!!!!! And sabre’s like “yep he’s the bad guy. Time to rip him apart chromatic steve by chromatic Steve” WAUGHHHHH 🔌🔌🔌🔌🍴🍴🍴⚡️⚡️⚡️⚡️💥💥💥💥
crying sobbing throwing up crying again
Then there’s Sabre slowly realizing what he’s doing is wrong. Realizing he’s the bad guy. Letting Rainbow go and protecting Light . Or. Trying to. He kind of failed Light died like 5 times
If you think about it, the majority of Sabre’s arc in tss is a redemption arc. He’s saving the steves to make up for the red Steve he murdered, the steves he chased and scared and trapped and experimented on. Especially Rainbow. I imagine that even when Rainbow died, Sabre felt like he hadn’t done enough. Hadn’t made up for the torture he put Rainbow through. And he’s destroyed forever by that.
The Rainbow Town really was a sanctuary for Steves. A home. I imagine countless nights spent under the stars. Rainbow going to bed and Lucas assuring Sabre, again and again, he had made up for it, done better, saved so many, helped so many, and Sabre always said it wasn’t enough. They had to do more.
Auguhhhhhhfhhfhfhdjewhbajskdntjdishehsjsje my TSS heart hasn’t recovered since October 15th 2017
