Chapter Text
~Techno's POV~ | November 21st, 2020
The eleventh Minecraft Championships, taking place on November 21st, 2020.
Techno was supposed to be teamed with Wilbur, Phil, and Tommy - they finally had let the four of them be teamed again. He'd been prepared to bully the sixteen-year-old to kingdom come, like usual, even though he saw Tommy as an annoying little brother - to take the words from Wilbur's mouth.
But when it was twelve, and the Pink Piglets - a name revived from the dead by the Noxcrew Admins - weren't ready, the Minecraft Championships started.
Tommy never showed up. Never started streaming. They spammed his twitter - except for Techno, who still had him blocked - his discord, and tried contacting him in every way they knew.
He didn't respond.
They assumed he'd overslept, and they told each other that they'd be very mad when he finally showed up.
Even though Techno had a nagging feeling something seriously wasn't right. Tommy adored him, and he took it straight to his head. The blonde-haired kid wouldn't miss a chance to be teamed with him for anything. And he would've said if he was sick or he had some other plans.
Still, the championships continued without him. And the Pink Piglets were down to three people.
Somehow they made it to the dodgeball round, facing the four people on the Dream Team, also known as the Azure Antelopes.
Dream. George. Sapnap. And their fourth and final member - Plumbella.
Techno didn't hate Dream; they were merely on the opposite teams. They had a fake hatred for each other, and Techno really respected the speedrunner. He knew that Dream respected him a bit as well, even though he'd never heard Dream say it to him. He'd poured over the vods of Dream, George, and Sapnap, looking at what they were good at, what they were bad at, and what they practiced the most.
His phone buzzed.
Techno ignored it as he glanced at his chat.
Stream Chat:
<newopig> TECHNOSUPPORT
<cityneedsleep> WE WIN THESE
<Warrior_Darken> TECHNOSUPPORT
<RangerArya> TECHNOSUPPORT
<Vegan_Skeppy> DREAM TEAM
He shook his head as his phone buzzed again, returning his attention to the dodgeball game. It was tied two to two - whoever won would win the MC Championships.
He heard Wilbur groan over discord as he was shot by George, but Phil quickly countered with an ecstatic "YESSSSS!" when he shot Dream. Techno shook his head and aimed his bow, quickly hitting Sapnap with the other arrow.
Dream and Plumbella were the last two left, the girl backing off as she let Dream pick up the arrows. Techno cursed internally.
"Please don't hit," he muttered out loud, shifting his fingers and tapping the keys as he and Phil darted across the already-small half of their court.
Phil did curse as Dream hit him, and Techno breathed a sigh of relief as the arrow flew over his character's head, embedding itself in the wall and falling into the water.
"Come on, Techno, you got this," Wilbur urged him on.
"We win these," Techno agreed as he grabbed the arrows, using his right mouse button to draw back the arrow and aiming it. At the last second, he switched his target from Dream to Plumbella and cheered when he scored a direct hit and the girl was eliminated.
The chat went crazy - both chats, in-game and on his stream, went crazy. Techno aimed with his next arrow, but missed as it sailed harmlessly past Dream's quick-moving character. He backed away as Dream picked up the next two arrows, breathing a sigh of relief as the first one missed.
"You've got this," Wilbur continued, a spark of fear in his voice. Indeed, Techno's heart was racing, and he could feel sweat lacing down his back.
"YESS!" Phil screamed as Dream's next arrow flew wide, the green-skinned character quick to start his dance around the court that was still shrinking smaller and smaller.
Techno picked up the arrows, sure he had the win in hand. He could take his time. It was him versus Dream.
"Our long-awaited meeting has come at last," he muttered, quoting Star Wars as he waited for an opening.
His phone buzzed, and Techno took his hand off his mouse to flip it over, wondering who was bothering him in such a consequential way.
Diamond Nerd Boy 3:13pm
Techno, you're gonna want to see this
<https:www.insertlinkhere.net>
DiamondNerdBoy 3:16pm
no seriously
Somehow, Techno
felt like this was necessary, and took his hands off the keyboard to unlock his phone and click on the link that Skeppy had sent. He glanced up to see confusion from the chats, and Wilbur and Philza both asking him questions.
It was a redirection to a news site.
Tom Jennings Missing: County in an Uproar as Murderer Flees Home with Boy in Tow
His heart sank. No. No...
But as he scrolled down, he learned the truth.
Reports from neighbors give life to a strange man in a black cloak fleeing the scene of the crime with an unconscious figure; found out to be Tom Jennings, the son of the two adults found dead at the scene, later confirmed to be his parents.
No. No.
No further information has been found about the future whereabouts of Tom Jennings, and we can only pray that the boy will be found soon. If any people have any tips they want to send, please contact the police at 605–475–6959.
He looked up in time to see his character slip into the water, the words of Dream's team name flashing across the screen. His chat was screaming at him. Dimly, he could hear Phil and Wilbur yelling at him as well, asking what was wrong and why he had stopped.
"I - " he stuttered, dropping the phone as his voice broke. Wilbur and Phil instantly went quiet. "I...I can't."
He ended the stream.
Ended the call.
Ignored the notifications he got within the next five seconds.
He went to the chat that he shared with the other contestants of MC Championships and pasted the link that Zak had sent him. Then he shut off his PC.
Curled up in his chair.
And even though he would never admit it...he cried.
Tommy had been kidnapped. His parents had been murdered by the same person that had taken the person akin to his little brother.
Tommy could be dead, at the bottom of a river. He could be getting tortured.
He didn't care about the stupid tournament anymore.
Only about the future of his friend.
~Clay's POV~ | November 21st, 2020
"YESSSSSSSSSSSS!" George screamed in Clay's ear as Techno's character fell into the water of the dodgeball court.
Clay only frowned. Techno had stopped moving ten seconds ago, freezing. He switched to Techno's stream and unmuted it in time to see it end, suddenly.
"What?" he muttered. This wasn't like Technoblade at all. His chat was ecstatic, talking in all caps. Congratulating him on winning.
"What's wrong, Dream?" Sapnap said over the happy noises of Plumbella and George.
Clay only shook his head in disbelief as the chat praised him on his win. Only, it didn't feel much like a win. What had happened to Technoblade?
He saw one of the other members of Techno's team log off suddenly, just in time to receive a notification from discord. Tommy hadn't shown up - that had surprised everyone. Clay had been a bit worried when that had happened, but he had quickly forgotten it until both his team and Techno's had reached the dodgeball portion.
Techno's profile was dark, showing he was offline. But a link blinked at Dream, and he furrowed his eyebrows as he clicked it, ignoring the questions asked by his teammates and the stream chat, wondering why it had gone dark.
Tom Jennings Missing: County in an Uproar as Murderer Flees Home with Boy in Tow
"Shit," he breathed, surprising everyone with the swear word that escaped his lips.
"What is it?" Plumbella asked.
There was a bit of silence as Clay reopened his Minecraft tab just in time to see three words pop up in chat. Three words that explained Techno's obscure behavior. That explained everything.
<WilburSoot> TommyInnit was kidnapped.
WilburSoot has left the game.
<Sapnap> What?
<GeorgeNotFound> ????
<Dream> Click on the link Techno sent in the discord.
Clay ended his stream. He saw many others do the same as they all realized what had happened - what was happening. What could be happening at this very moment.
"Tommy was kidnapped," he repeated numbly. "By a murderer."