Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Techno smiled to himself as he placed the final block in his new home. Maybe now, after all the violence, all the killing, he could finally focus on himself, and be at pea/KILL THEM. BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD. IT'S BORING IF YOU'RE NOT FIGHTING ANYONE./

He winced. Right, he would never be at peace. Not while they were in his head. Still, it wasn't like they were going anywhere, so he tried to make the most of it. He rubbed his chin as he thought of incorporating a bell or two to amuse the voices somehow. "Hmm... that could work." He shrugged. It was worth a shot.

/KILL THE BUTCHERS! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD! TECHNO CANT DIE! BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!/ The voices screamed in Technoblade's head as he stared at the anvil above him. They didn't seem any happier about this predicament than he was.

"Gotta time this right..." He prepared to whip out the Totem of Undying, not wanting to miss his window. Too early, and the Butchers would notice. Too late, and, well...

He shook his head. One of his executors was approaching a button. It was now or never. As the anvil started to fall, Techno pulled out his Totem and closed his eyes.

Overall, dying wasn't the worst feeling in the world. It was quick, at the very least. Still, on the whole, 6/10, he had seen better.

Techno opened his eyes again. The Totem was gone, but he was still there. And yet, something seemed... off.

"Kill him!" Yelled Quackity, snapping Techno out of his thoughts. Whatever oddities came with dying, he would just have to deal with later.

Following a harrowing escape with help from an unforeseen tyrannical ally, Techno finally had a moment to catch his breath. Things didn't look good. If any of the Butchers found him, he wouldn't have anything to defend himself with other than a fairly useless pickaxe.

"What do you guys think?" He asked aloud. "Could I take them?" He waited for a reply. And waited. Slowly, a realization dawned on him. "You're... you're gone?" He smacked his palm into the side of his head a few times, but to no success. "No, no, you're not gone, this is just a trick, a-" His sensitive ears heard footsteps approaching. He spun and got into a defensive position, pickaxe held out in front of him.

"Well, well, well," said Quackity. "You are one hard pig to kill." He pointed his sword at Techno, noticing his "weapon." He chuckled. "Oh, what are you gonna do with that scary pick, mine me up some iron?" Technoblade's eyes shot open in fury at the sight of his executioner. "I'll put this pick through your teeth!" He let out a war cry as he charged the Butcher.

"In the midst of chaos, there is opportunity." Technoblade knew these words well, as he did all the passages from Sun Tzu's Art of War. Techno also knew that Quackity was very shaken up by things not going to plan. He had brought Techno here to kill him, but watched him come back and escape right before his eyes. And now he was fighting him with a pickaxe.

Still, what really mattered on this battlefield wasn't deception, or chaos, or anything so abstract. What this battle came down to was pure, unrivaled skill. And when compared to a master of combat like Technoblade, the headstrong Butcher didn't stand half a chance. As he parried blow after blow, Techno finally saw an opening. He decided to end his captor with the very words that had kept him captive for so many years.

"BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD!" He screamed as he drove his pick into Quackity's teeth, then further into his skull. The butcher twitched, then went limp, hanging from Techno's pickaxe. He let the corpse slide off and drop to the ground like the anvil had onto him.

Techno let out a breath. "There," he panted. "Blood." He looked around, noticing that there was quite a lot of it. "Blood for the blood god, right? ...Right?"

But the voices said nothing.

Technoblade was utterly

Entirely

Alone.

The boat ride home was the longest stretch of time Technoblade had ever experienced. Is this how it is for normal people? He thought to himself as he rowed. If so, a LOT. This silence would drive anyone crazy.

He tried speaking to the voices again. “Looks like we’re almost home. Like I said, I’m a human GPS.”

He waited for a response.

And waited.

And waited.

He sighed, stepping onto the shore. “At least now I don’t have to be funny all the time..” he said to himself as he walked. It was relaxing, in a way. But more than that, the silence just… got under his skin, made him uncomfortable in a way he couldn’t put into words. Still, after all the chaos he had just gone through, Techno was ready for a nice, normal day alone in his home.

As the tired Technoblade came up on the final hill before his house, one single detail in the landscape shook his day to its very core.

The little blond punk had found out where he lived.

Despite not wanting to deal with more drama than he already had, this was a problem that needed to be dealt with. Techno stepped up to Tommy, and waited for an explanation.

Tommy paused for a moment, his eyes darting between Techno and the clearing behind him. Techno side stepped, cutting him off. “What are you doing at my house?”

“How are you doing Technoblade?” he asked apprehensively, walking around Techno. He could already feel a headache coming on from dealing with the angsty teen, especially after the tiring day he had. Or perhaps it was from the anvil-

Tommy was walking into his house.

He sprinted after Tommy as he walked through the door. “Get out of my house!”

“You can’t make me,” he retorted. “I have…” he trailed off, rummaging through the chests.

Techno slammed the chest shut, glaring. “What are you doing in my house?”

Tommy smirked. “I would say… OUR house.”

“HEH?!” His fingers twitched, reaching for the sword he no longer had. Today had been long, and it was time for Tommy to leave. With a bit of a panicked expression, Tommy began climbing down the ladder, heading towards the basement, disappearing underneath some stone. “Where are you going?!” He jumps down, removing the stone only to be greeted with yellow clay scattered around a second basement he didn’t realize he had. The voices had always seemed to like Tommy, more than he did at least, and it was becoming very hard to avoid taking Tommy’s last life without their nagging.

“What are you doing?!” he yelled. Almost immediately, he regretted it. Tommy began rambling about this was his room, Techno needing to leave, and he needed to get the disks back.

Techno shook his head. It was always about the discs with this kid.

Finally, Tommy began properly explaining what happened. “Well, the past few days have been confusing and I’ve realized Dream…” he paused, thinking his words over carefully. “Although… he’s been a good friend for a long time, he’s a wrongin’ and I hate him. And the more I think about it the more I get confused, but right now, I need to get the disks back.”

Techno rolled his eyes, his hand moving to the pickaxe. Then, a thought popped into his mind. “L’Manburg took everything from you, just like they tried to do to me. Now, you can leave my house, or we can team up and destroy the country, getting your disks back.” He paused, looking at Tommy expectantly.

Tommy stopped and for a moment almost seemed to consider the idea, before looking at Techno angrily. “Goodbye!” he said, flashing him a sarcastic smile before climbing up the ladder and opening the doors.

“Wait, where are you going?” Techno called out, quickly following after him.

“I’m not teaming up with you! Not after you blew up L’Manburg-”

“Well that was mostly Wilbur-”

“-and killed Tubbo!”

Techno laughed. “So what? He exiled you! You think he sees you as his ‘best friend’? What kind of country throws its own citizens under the bus at a small bit of pressure from a green teletubby?”

Tommy looked down, quiet, his hands clenched tightly into fists. Techno had obviously struck a nerve, and he wasn’t sure what to do next. He paused for a moment, waiting for input from what should have been annoying buzzing, but once again found silence. It was really starting to concern him a bit and was throwing him off.

Techno sighed, rubbing his temples in an effort to quell the still-growing headache. “Look, we don’t have to be friends. In fact, consider that option off the table. But, if you help me destroy L’Manburg, commit some minor terrorism at the very least, I’ll help you get your disks back from Dream. After that, we never have to see each other again.”

Tommy stared at the snow, thinking. “If you promise to help me get the disks back-”

“I promise.”

He looked up, smiling. “Well, I do love minor terrorism.”

Techno clapped his hands together, smiling in return. “Perfect! I have something to show you then, something that I haven’t even shown Phil.”

Techno walks back to the house, grabbing a button, and walks around the mountain, Tommy following close behind.

“You see Tommy, I’ve been a bit busy during my retirement.” He stuck the button to a small slot in the mountain, almost invisible. He steps back, gesturing at Tommy.

He walks up cautiously, looking at the button before finally pressing it. The mountain began moving, revealing a hole dug out inside of it. Tommy stumbled back, falling onto the ground in shock. Techno looked at him, grinning.

“Welcome home, Theseus!”

Techno took his cape off, sighing. With Tommy sound asleep in his makeshift basement and two armor pieces successfully reclaimed from Ranboo, Techno had a moment to himself. Today had been…. Less than great. Between the execution, the loss of his only constant companions, and the discovery of an unexpected roommate, he was more than ready for a moment to sit down and figure everything out. But maybe, just maybe.... He got up, readying his bell-ringin’ arm.

“SUBSCRIBE TO TECHNOBLADE!” He yelled, ringing his bell over and over, hoping to get a response.

Nothing.

“...ONE OF US! ONE OF US! ONE… of…” Techno sank to his knees. “You’re… you’re really gone, aren’t you?”

The silence gave him all the answer he needed. It was horrifying.

In spite of himself, Techno felt tears threatening to well up. All the events of the day crashed down on him, all at once. His horse threatened. His only friend, imprisoned. His quiet life demolished, once by butchers and once by his uninvited guest. The mighty warrior pressed his forehead into the bell the voices had loved so much, and screamed until his lungs gave out.

As he caught his breath, Techno saw mobs coming out of the darkness around his house. He rubbed his eyes and pulled himself together.

“Alright, then,” he said. “If bells won’t bring you back, maybe blood will.” He grabbed his trusty Toothpick and went out into the harsh cold night.

The first mob to approach was a baby zombie, reminding Techno once again of Phil. Its decaying skin caved easily from the netherite-hardened weapon. Blood splashed on pig and pick alike, but not enough. A skeleton was his next prey, barely able to fire off two shots before falling like its comrade. Then a creeper. Then a zombie. For hours, Techno did nothing but kill everything that moved, until at last, day came, dispelling the monsters and giving him a chance to breathe.

Techno sat himself down on a mound of dirt and got a good look at himself. The pig wasn’t just covered in blood, he was absolutely dripping with it. It had soaked into his clothes, and was pooling into the dirt beneath him. And still, even now, the inside of his head was as silent as the grave.

He let out a breath. “Still not enough.” He looked down at his red-stained hand. He tightened it into a fist. “More, then. More blood than ever before!” He punched his fist into the sky and let out a final “FOR THE BLOOD GOD!” into the rising sun.

Chapter Text

For the third time in several minutes, Ranboo looked over his shoulder to make sure no one was following him.

“Alright, Ranboo. Calm down. No one saw you leave, no one even knows you’re gone.” The half-Enderman did his best to look inconspicuous as he approached Technoblade’s home. “You’re just gonna go to Techno, give him his helmet so he’ll spare you, and come right back. No need for this to get-” as he made the final approach, Ranboo could see someone sitting on a mound of dirt, drenched in blood. “....messy” He gulped, slowly approaching the figure.

Technoblade let out a sigh. It was nice to let loose and commit mass murder once in a while. Even if nothing really got solved, this was some excellent stress relief. He got up, about to head back inside, when he heard an Enderman approaching. He spun on the spot and pointed his pickaxe at- “Ranboo?”

The poor minuteman quivered in his armor, doing his absolute best to not run for the hills and never come back. “I was w-wondering…” He cleared his throat. “I was wondering if you would consider not killing me if I returned your armor.”

Techno rubbed his chin, smearing even more blood onto his face as he looked Ranboo over. “I might. But… you know where I live, and you have my armor. I can’t just let you run off with a simple trade like that.” He turned and headed to his house. “Let’s talk inside.” Ranboo simply nodded, following the bloody figure into the house he had raided only one night ago.

The first thing that captured Ranboo’s attention was Tommy sitting at a table, staring intensely at his food. Upon hearing footsteps, he jumped, turning around to face the odd pair. “What the fu-” he squeaked, looking over Techno. “Why are you covered in blood? And why is Ranboo here?”

“Don’t worry about it,” Techno said, rolling his right arm back in an effort to stretch it. He turned to Ranboo. “I’m going to get cleaned up real quick. Stay right here, got it?” Technoblade walked upstairs, leaving the two of them alone.

Ranboo gulped. That last bit sounded more like a threat than a suggestion.

“So…” Tommy started.

“Yeah… um… You’re with Technoblade now?” Ranboo asked, rubbing the back of his neck.

“Yep.” Tommy replied, turning back to his food.

Ranboo stared at him, noticing the deep bags under his eyes. “When was the last time you slept?”

“What’s it to you, dickhead?”

“Sorry...”

Tommy focused on his breakfast, leaving Ranboo to stand in awkward silence. He took out his journal, putting a question mark next to Tommy’s name under a list titled “Friends.” Despite how unnerving these two were, Ranboo still hoped he would be able to get along with them. As much as he hated to admit it, the minuteman had no real friends, no one he could trust. But still, there were probably better options for friends, right? Like...Ranboo racked his brain, trying to think of a single example. It was… discouragingly hard.

“Alright then,” a voice said behind him. Ranboo snapped out of his thought process, turning around to see the fierce warrior looking a little less messy and a bit more… tired? It was hard to tell. One detail stuck out to him, however, was Technoblade sporting a pair of thinly-framed glasses, sitting on top of his snout.

Tommy looked up again and started laughing. “What are you wearing? Since when have you worn glasses?”

“Wha- What’s wrong with glasses?” Techno asked defensively.

Tommy smiled mischievously. “It makes you look like a nerd, bitch.”

Ranboo glanced at the daring teen, convinced this was the end of Tommyinnit. However, Techno didn’t seem to move. His brows furrowed together, as if he was concentrating on something. After a moment, he began muttering something under his breath.

“Uh, Techno?” Tommy spoke up, hesitantly. The pig looked up, forgetting that the two of them were in the room.

“Right. Ranboo. I don’t think it’s safe for you to be wandering around, knowing where I live, and all that. Tommy and I think it would be better if you stayed here for a while.”

“What?” Interjected Tommy. “No I didn-” Techno cut off his objection with a headlock.

Ranboo watched the two of them bicker. In a way, it was kind of nice. They could be themselves around each other, without any fear of bloodshed or banishment. But still, he had a job to do, people who depended on him to do the right thing. He cleared his throat. “I… appreciate the offer, but I think I should be going back before someone notices I’m gone.”

Techno and Tommy both stopped their squabble and turned to him. “Ah, c’mon,” said Techno. “Don’t keep working for the government. C’mon, it’ll be great. Just stay with us.” There was a hint of desperation to his voice that Ranboo couldn’t help but pick up on.

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, don’t be a bitch, Ranboo. You gotta get away from that madhouse while you still can.”

The half-enderman tried to make himself as inconspicuous as his lanky body would allow. If there was one thing he didn’t handle well, it was peer pressure. “I… really should get back to Tubbo…”

Tommy flinched. “No… no. You don’t need to go back to him.”

“Yeah,” joined in Techno, “He’s a nerd in a nation full of other nerds. Stay with us, we can be a team.” Again, that desperation entered the pig’s words.

Ranboo’s pathetic defences crumbled. “Well… I guess I can stay. For a little bit.”

“Perfect! Though, I need you to deliver something for me.” Techno walked over to a chest, pulling out a piece of paper and a quill. He quickly scribbled down some words, refusing to let Tommy peek over his shoulder. He quickly folded it up, handing it to Ranboo. “I need you to go to L’Manburg and give this to Philza. Do not let anyone know what you’re doing and DO NOT open this.” Techno moved up to Ranboo, getting closer to the half enderman then Ranboo was comfortable with. He looked at him straight in the eyes. “I will know if you do.”

Ranboo let out a quick nod, taking the paper and sticking it in his pocket. He fidgeted as Techno analyzed his face, trying to figure out if Ranboo could be trusted. He sighed, turning to face Tommy. “Hurry up and get out of here before someone gets suspicious and you can’t go back. Once that’s done I want my armor,” he called over his shoulder.

“Right.” Ranboo walked out the door, shivering at the wall of frigid air that greeted him. He began making his way to what he assumed was a nether portal that may lead to the community house. Thoughts swirled around in his head, many of which were already eating him up. He didn’t want to take sides. Those just lead to war. It led to Tommy’s exile.

He stopped, feeling a twinge of guilt. Everything that Tommy went through, he should have suffered through as well. Ranboo burned down George’s house with him, though he didn’t remember much of the incident, so why had Tommy denied his involvement? “Don’t think about that right now,” he muttered to himself, forcing his feet to move through the portal in front of him.

The way back was simple enough to find, his eyes eventually finding the path that led to Logstedshire and following it back. In spite of himself, Ranboo couldn’t help but feel somewhat pleased about people actually wanting him to live with and work alongside them. One of his few memories of Tommy was their first meeting, which frankly didn’t go well at all. But now… He looked at his list of friends as he walked. Tubbo was there, along with Fundy and Quackity, though he still wasn’t sure if they liked him back. And now Tommy and Techno.

As he stared at his list, he came to the uncomfortable realization that he would probably have to pick a side between L’manberg and Techno and Tommy. The thought made his stomach twist. He truly didn’t want to pick a side, he didn’t even want there to be sides in the first place. But, between the two…. Techno and Tommy actually wanted him. He wasn’t just another minuteman to them, he was, just maybe, a potential friend.

As the portal transported him back to the overworld, Ranboo was greeted with the sound of heavy rain. He let out a frustrated sigh, adjusting the netherite helmet to make sure he was protected, before quickly dashing towards Phil’s house. Occasionally, he would let out a hiss of pain as a drop of water would fall onto his unprotected hands. He really needed to get some gloves.

People passed by, variously other members of this world, but they didn’t seem to notice or care, offering a small smile or wave as he rushed past. All of these people, he thought, were being betrayed by him. His breath quickened as he fought to keep the rising panic from spilling over. Now wasn’t the time to begin panicking, or it would look suspicious.

“Hey Ranboo!” He looked over and met the gaze of Tubbo, soaked due to the lack of armor he was wearing. His hair was weighed down from the water, revealing the small pair of horns the young president had begun trying to hide after Tommy’s exile. Despite the gloomy weather, Tubbo was beaming excitedly.

Ranboo ducked underneath a tree and waved. “Hi Tubbo. You look excited about something?”

Tubbo nodded. “I’m finally going to visit Tommy! It’s been a while and I feel bad that I haven’t visited him yet, so I decided to do that today! I’m sure he misses me as much as I miss him.”

Ranboo forced a smile. “Y-Yeah.” He took a steady breath. “I’m sure Tommy would love to see you. Just… don’t have high expectations. You never know if he’s left or something.”

The excitement on Tubbo’s face turned to confusion. “He should still be there, I think. Dream said he wasn’t supposed to leave Logstedshire.”

“Well, you know Tommy.” Ranboo let out a nervous laugh.

“You’re right. Anyway, Quackity is in charge for the day so if you need anything talk to him. Bye!” He ran off, not waiting for a reply.

Ranboo continued on, pushing his worries to the side. He can deal with that later. Right now, he had to talk to Phil who definitely would not be happy to see him. He approached Phil’s door.

Before even having a chance to knock, the door opened, revealing the friendly ghost everyone had come to know. “Phil! Ranboo is here!”

There was a rush of footsteps as a grumpy Philza made his way over to the door, crossing his arms. “Come to trash my house some more?”

“I, um,” he glanced around, making sure nobody was nearby to overhear. “Can I come in?”

Phil sighed, opening the door wider. Ranboo rushed in and pulled out the note from his pocket. “It’s from Technoblade. He wanted me to give it to you.”

Ghostbur wandered off while Phil took the note, reading over it. His expression was hard to read, only turning into concern towards the end of the paper. “Wouldn’t that be a good thing?” he muttered. He walked upstairs, rummaging through what sounded like a bookshelf.

The pale ghost quickly returned, lead in hand, with a blue sheep. “Friend, right?” Ranboo asked, trying to remember the specifics of yesterday. Ghostbur nods

“He’s my best friend!” His high pitched voice dropped to a low whisper. “Phil said he has infinite lives.”

He gave the ghost a sad smile, wondering what he must have been like before his death.

Phil soon came down, clutching an old journal. “If you’re staying with Techno, then he must trust you to some extent. Either that, or he is already getting desperate for company. This is all of the research I’ve done that would be what Techno is looking for. Make sure to tell him that I don’t think there’s going to be anything of use for him that could help. Though I really don't know why he would want to go back…” he trailed off, muttering under his breath. After a moment, he looked back up. “Also make sure to tell him that I can’t deal with this place,” he gestured wildly around the room, “for very long. So whatever he is planning better happen quickly.”

“I will. Can I ask what the research is about…?”

The older man shook his head. “That’s up to Techno to tell you about. It’s not my place and I doubt Techno would want others knowing.” He walked over to the door and opened it. “You should probably get going. Someone might wonder what’s going on if you stay too long. And I really just want to work on fixing what I can after last night.”

“Yeah. Um, let me know if I can do anything to make up what happened? I kinda feel bad.” Ranboo rubbed his neck awkwardly.

“I’ll consider it.”

He threw the journal in an enderchest and ran out, looking around as he went, and hoped that nobody would be suspicious of his actions.

A lone figure watched the half-enderman dash out of Philza’s house, tilting his head. The roof provided excellent cover while allowing him to listen to the conversation between the two people.

“Hmm…”

He jumped down, landing behind some barrels, and quickly downed an invisibility potion. Taking off his armor, he began following the nervous Ranboo, through the nether portal, all the way to a very familiar snowy biome.

Chapter Text

Techno heard the door swing shut, marking Ranboo’s departure. He let out a wistful sigh, remembering the last time he was in an alliance. What did they call it? Pog… something.

“Hey chat, what was the name of-” He winced. Right, no more chat. He had hoped that over time, he’d get more used to it, but it still stung as much as ever. Hopefully Phil would know what to do when he arrived.

Techno stood up and started pacing. What if Phil couldn’t help? Heck, what if he was dead by the time the half-Enderman reached him? The butchers easily could have killed him because of Techno’s failed execution. They certainly had no problem threatening his horse, or trapping Philza in his home just for knowing Techno. And in his current state, against all the butchers of L’manberg, with his singular life…

Techno started getting his gear from his chest. “What’s with all the stomping around,” came a voice from behind him. He turned and saw Tommy climbing up.

“...Nothin’. Just decided to help out Ranboo.”

Tommy looked at the pig skeptically. “Isn’t he just delivering a quick message?”

“Well, yeah, but…” Techno tried to think of a response that wouldn’t let the kid in on how shaken he was feeling. “There’s a good chance he forgot. You know how he is. So I just wanted to check on him.”

“Technoblade, stop being so paranoid. He’ll be fine, alright?”

The pig nodded. “Yeah, yeah, just… gotta make sure. This is important, after all.”

Tommy narrowed his eyes. “Why the fuck are you acting so weird all of a sudden?”

Techno could feel beads of sweat forming on his brow. He honestly didn’t know how much interrogation he could take. “I... don’t know what you’re talking about. Probably just your imagination.”

“I’m not an idiot, Techno. You’re acting weird and I don’t think that’s a good thing.”

Techno looked around for a distraction. “I’m just... “ He couldn’t think of anything. “...I lost… something.”

Tommy raised his eyebrow. “You lost something?”

Techno nodded, not sure how much he should tell this child. “Not a small thing, either. It’s like your disks.”

Tommy’s eyes widened at the mention of his lost items. “Oh. I see.” It was weird to think of Techno as someone who could feel grief over something he lost. “I mean, it probably wasn’t as important as the disks, right? Are you talking about your armor?”

Techno sighed and waved his hand. “Forget I said anything. I’m gonna go do war stuff.”

Tommy huffed. “Fine. I thought I could try to be nice and ask what was wrong, but if you’re just gonna be all evasive, then fuck that I guess.” He started heading back down to his room.

Techno reached out instinctively. “Wait, Tommy-”

The boy stopped. “What is it now?”

He lowered his hand. “I… You lost your best friend, right? That Tubbo?”

Tommy glared daggers at the pig. “You mean when you murdered him?”

Techno bit his tongue. “No. Well, that too. I meant when you got exiled.”

Tommy froze for a second, a strange look on his face. “Yeah, he kicked me out himself,” he remarked bitterly. “What about it?”

Techno tried to find the words for what he wanted to ask. “How are you dealing with it? That pain, that… fear?”

For the second time that day, Tommy was shocked by how much humanity The Blade was showing. “Well…” he sat down across from Techno. “I thought maybe Tubbo would visit me, so I focused on that.” His face darkened slightly. “When he didn’t come, I focused on Ghostbur and spent time with him when he was there. And Dream, when I thought he was my friend. Is my friend. I don’t know.” He pulled out a well-worn compass and stared at it longingly. “I guess it’s… complicated.”

Techno thought carefully over his next words, not wanting to upset the child. “Say… say you could never see Tubbo again. Like, he was gone forever. What would you do?”

Tommy shook his head. “I don’t think about that.”

Techno sighed. “Well, thanks anyway.”

“I’m not gonna waste time thinking about shit like that, Techno.,” Tommy spat back.

Techno crumpled a little bit. “Right. Anyway.” He pulled himself up. “Gotta plan out the destruction of L’Manberg.”

Tommy nodded and stood up. “And Techno. While it’s not my business, whatever or whoever you lost… You can live without them. Hell, might even be better off.”

“Yeah…” Techno nodded. “Yeah. You might be right.”

“Of course I’m right,” replied Tommy. “I’m always right. Anyway, didn’t you say you were off to work on some plan to attack L’Manberg?”

A grin stretched across Techno’s face. “Oh, yeah, and it’s a good one. But first, do you have any bones you can spare?”

Techno walked through the frozen tundra. “Geez,” he said to himself, “It is a real cold one today.” He shivered, completely oblivious to his own lack of armor. He looked around, keeping an eye out for any wolves. “C’mon, you hounds,” he called out. “Don’t any of you want a nice, juicy bone?” Up above him, a bird landed on a branch, knocking some snow onto the pig’s head.

Techno shivered and brushed the snow off, looking up to see a crow staring back at him. The sight of the bird filled Techno with memories of times spent with Phil, how Chat and Phil’s crows seemed to be able to talk to each other. Heck, maybe Phil could help him figure out what happened to his voices. The thought put a bit of pep into the pig’s step as he traversed the frozen forest. Philza always knew what to do. With any luck, the disappearing Chat would soon be a distant memory.

As the reinvigorated pig made his way deeper into the forest, he heard a twig snap. His instincts kicked in, and he dove behind a tree, completely covering himself in snow. He peeked around the corner, seeing a small pack of wolves. He grinned. Finally, for the first time since his execution, his luck was taking a turn for the better. He approached the wolves, holding out the largest bones of the bunch. “Here, doggy doggy doggy…” He waggled them alluringly.

Slowly, curiously, the wolves approached Techno. There looked to be 4 in all. Perfect. He started slowly giving bones to the wolves. Within a matter of minutes, they seemed to accept him as part of their pack. He pet each of them appreciatively. “Good boys. Now then…” He reached into his pack and pulled out some rotten flesh. “Who’s hungry?”

Tommy found himself wandering around the house, examining every item and making a note of where each piece of armor and weapon was. It was too quiet, and quiet meant his thoughts would wander and that almost ended up very badly a few days ago. He shook his head, trying to rid the memories he desperately wanted to avoid. So, he thought about what Techno had talked about.

“He lost something?” Tommy wondered out loud. The great Technoblade, feared by most and undefeated in battle. The one who helped Wilbur destroy L’Manburg. The one who took Tubbo’s second life.

Tommy quickly shoved the last thought away.

The Blade had asked him for advice, of all people. The great TommyInnit who had been hiding in his basement like a racoon. The pathetic teenager who couldn’t even tell who his friends were, who he could really trust.

He wandered into the basement and went down further, entering the little cavern he called him room for who knows how long. His mind continued to focus on what Techno had talked about earlier. He had never seen Technoblade act so bizarre before. Even in Pogtopia, when he would catch Technoblade muttering to the air, he didn’t seem too out of the ordinary. He said he lost something important. Like the disks.

Say you could never see Tubbo again. What would you do?

The words echoed through Tommy’s head, causing him to freeze in the middle of the room. He stared at the wall, contemplating what he said.

Could he go back to Tubbo even if he wanted to? Would he ever be able to see his best friend?

A bitter laugh rang out, bouncing off the walls. Tommy found himself backing up into the wall behind him. He slid down, hugging his knees to his chest and letting out a choked sob. No, he could never see Tubbo again. Tubbo didn’t want anything to do with him, he never visited, and Dream would kill him if he found Tommy.

“There’s nothing I can do.” The reality of it hit him like a ton of bricks. All possibilities were gone, and he was left with his own helplessness. He would either help the Blade destroy his old home, or be hunted down and killed by Dream.

The front door to the house opened, snapping Tommy out of his thoughts. For a split second, he thought it was Dream, having finally found him. He fought every instinct in his body to hide away, and slowly poked his head up through the floor. Instead of the green and white he had been dreading, a lanky half-Enderman was coming in, banging his head on the doorframe.

Tommy let out a breath. “Ranboo,” he said, coming up the ladder. “Glad to see you didn’t die or something. Techno’s been losing his goddamn mind over you.”

Ranboo looked down at Tommy, seeming more nervous than usual. “Yeah.” He glanced over his shoulder, out the door. “But I think I may have been followed.”

Tommy instantly went back into panic mode. “Someone followed you?”

Ranboo nodded. “I didn’t see them, but I just… felt this presence.”

Tommy started sweating. His heart, calm moments before, was beating out of his chest at the thought of Dream finding him. “Watch out for Dream!” he said as he slid down the ladder and charged into his room. He grabbed his weapons and armor, putting them on as fast as he could.

As he pulled on his boots, he heard a muffled voice. Technoblade. “Oh, Dream. What an unexpected surprise.” Tommy froze in place. His heart was beating at a concerning rate, the sound deafening in his ears. He was too scared to move, too scared to breathe. One wrong move could reveal his location. The walls were suddenly too close together. It was suffocating. He began breathing again, but it was too fast. There were footsteps above him and a sudden bang of a door closing. It took everything in him to repress a scream. TNT, explosions, all of his items gone, the only thing remaining was the mask staring at him, taunting him, DARING him-

Before he knew it, he was on the ground. His head was pounding and he could barely make out the voices that drifted down. “Nice little place you have, Techno,” Dream was saying. “But it seems a little… lonely, don’t you think?”

“I like being on my own… Besides, I have Ranboo.”

“Ah, Ranboo. So he’s your housemate, huh?” Tommy could hear the suspicion in Dream’s voice.

“Yup,” said the former minuteman. “I’m just settling in.”

“Well, I’m glad to see you two have made up after the whole execution incident.”

“Oh yeah,” said Technoblade. “Thanks for your help, by the way.”

Tommy heard Dream walk towards the ladder to the middle floor. “Oh, you can thank me properly later. For now, how about a house tour?”

Tommy’s eyes darted around the room, looking for a place to hide. They came to rest on his corridor of doors. It would have to do. He grabbed some stone from a chest and rushed into the hallway. The stone walls blocked out all outside noise as Tommy made a hole after the third door, using stone to block the path.

He waited there in silence for what felt like hours before he heard people descending the ladder.

“So whose room is this?” Dream was asking.

“Oh, uh, mine,” replied Ranboo.

Tommy heard the sound of footsteps walking around the room. He was too scared to move farther into the tunnel. One sound, that’s all it would take for Dream to find him.

“Doesn’t really seem like your style, Ranboo.” Dream was saying.

“I’m branching out,” the half-Enderman responded. “Trying out new styles of decor.”

“Right, right.” Tommy could tell Dream wasn’t buying any of what they were saying. He heard footsteps drawing closer to him. “And what about this hallway?” The first door opened.

“Oh, that hallway? It’s…” Ranboo faltered. “It’s… uh…”

“It’s too short for you, is what it is.” Dream opened the second door. Tommy swore he would be able to feel his heart pounding on the other side of the wall.

“I… lay down in it sideways. It helps me sleep.”

Tommy heard Dream open the third door. He could feel the murderous energy coming from his former “friend.” He heard a disappointed sigh. “Well, I guess I was wrong.”

“Wrong about what?” prodded Technoblade.

“Absolutely nothing.”

Dream frowned under his mask. He knew Tommy was here, somewhere. But he had no interest in digging up the entire chunk looking for one kid. When the time came, Tommy would return to him, one way or another. He turned to face the pig and Enderman. “Well, it’s been fun. But I think it’s time I got back to Tubbo.” He listened for a reaction before patting Techno on the shoulder. “You know what they say. Keep your friends close…” He squeezed until the warrior visibly winced. “And your enemies closer.” His face cracked into a massive, mirthless grin.

And with those ominous words still hanging in the air, Dream turned and left, leaving Techno, Ranboo, and a petrified Tommy to wonder what they had started.

Chapter Text

Ranboo’s mismatched eyes scanned the frozen landscape, a fresh layer of snow quickly beginning to cover Dream’s footsteps. “Clear,” he called down to Techno. The pig nodded and rapped his knuckles against the basement wall. “You can come out now,” he said. “Dream’s long gone.”

Tommy let out a sigh as he exited his hiding spot. “Thanks,” he said curtly.

Techno studied the blonde boy. His eyes were darting around the room, doing his best to hide his plainly visible fear. Hands played with the hem of his shirt, worsening the already ratty condition. “Dream… really did a number on you, didn’t he?”

He flinched, avoiding eye contact. “Nothing I couldn’t handle,” Tommy muttered, pushing past the pig in his path. As he passed, he swore he saw a look of genuine concern flash across Techno’s face. He made his way to the ladder, signaling he didn’t care to continue this conversation. Not that Techno was going to listen.

“You know, Tommy,” Techno said, stepping back over to the teen. “Allies are too valuable of a resource to ignore. You shouldn’t fight alone if you don’t have to.”

“Oh, is that all I am to you? A resource?” Tommy snapped.

Technoblade winced. “That’s not what I-”

Tommy threw up his hand. “We’re not friends, Techno. And what Dream did is none of your goddamn business.”

“It is my business if I have to hide you in my own home.”

“Then don’t! I don’t need your fucking pity,” he spat. “Not when you betrayed us and killed Tubbo!”

Techno found himself rolling his eyes. “Not this again. What happened to Tubbo was months ago. And just the other day, he tried to have me executed! You can’t sit here and tell me that he was justified in dragging me out of my home without any trial.” Techno crossed his arms, his eyes narrowed.

“Like how you weren’t justified in killing him at the festival?” Tommy retorted.

Anger flared through Technoblade’s expression. Tommy found himself taking a step back, flinching away from the man’s gaze. Not that the giant in front of him seemed to care. “You don’t know what that little stunt cost me,” he growled. “L’manberg is corrupted, Tubbo is corrupted.” He gestured wildly around the room. “Look at this! Look at you! Nothing good comes out of governments! You were the ones who thought instilling another tyrant was such a good idea! History is just repeating itself and all of you are refusing to acknowledge it.”

Tommy’s breath began to quicken. “Shut up! You don’t know him. You know nothing about L’Manberg or the sacrifices I made for that country! You never will be able to understand what it’s like to fight for something and give it your all, only to watch it destroyed!” Tears were threatening to make their way down Tommy’s face, but he ignored them. “You’re just a bloodthirsty friendless pig! Nothing more than a weapon to the people around you.”

Something in Technoblade seemed to snap. “And where are your friends? Living happily without you, or hunting you down to my home! And bloodthirsty? Tommy, do you realize how many wars you’ve been in? Your hands are no cleaner than mine.” The piglin walked up to Tommy, ignoring the way the teen stumbled back. “You’re not better than me, Tommy.” He poked his finger into his chest. “You’re just an immature, useless brat that can’t accept that you’ve lost everything. Your home is gone, your friends are gone, and the only thing standing between you and your little green friend is me.” In the back of his mind, he knew that what he had spoken crossed a line. He had gone too far. But in the heat of the moment, Techno simply didn’t care. He didn’t care that Tommy seemed to freeze at the mention of Dream, his entire body language screaming to run. Quickly enough, however, that fear turned into pure anger.

Tommy snarled. “Fine! I don’t need you to protect me! I can do just fine on my own!”

Techno folded his arms. “Oh, I’d love to see that. You’d last an hour at most.”

Tommy spat at the pig’s feet. “Then watch me.” With that, he turned and climbed up the ladder, stomping on each rung as he went.

Ranboo heard the boy come up. At the sound of creaking wood, he turned around. “I heard shouting, what’s going-” A glare from Tommy silenced him as he slammed the door open and headed out. Ranboo looked downstairs at Techno. “Is… is everything okay?”

Techno let out a heavy sigh, guilt beginning to settle in. “We had a… disagreement. Tommy doesn’t want to stay with us anymore.”

“But… but Dream is probably still out there, right? He should at least wait.”

Techno shrugged as he ascended the ladder. “If you wanna go out and rescue him, be my guest.” Something screamed at him to go after Tommy himself, but he pushed it down.

Ranboo looked from Techno to the door, still swinging from Tommy’s exit. Water droplets from melted snowflakes peppered the entryway and the snow showed no sign of slowing. He eyed the liquid suspiciously. “...Alright,” he sighed. “I’ll be back as soon as I find him.”

Techno raised his eyebrow at Ranboo as he reached the main floor. “What, really?”

Ranboo swallowed and nodded, determined. “And while I do that…” He pulled out a well-worn book that seemed to be made of mostly scrap paper. “This is from Philza.” Techno accepted it with a nod. Ranboo put on his helmet and armor and went out into the snow, smacking his head on the doorframe as he left.

Techno shook his head. “Well, guess they’re both dead now.” He continued to ignore the guilt that was growing, opting to stare at the book in his hands instead. He sat down in a wooden chair against a wall and examined it. The cover was made from leather with no discernable markings. Creases lined the spine and a few pages fell out. Techno quickly shoved them into the back of the book. He opened the front cover, a familiar, loopy handwriting greeting him on the yellowed pages.

Blood God Research

He carefully turned the page and revealed the first entry.

Recently Technoblade came to me about an issue he was dealing with. I’m honestly surprised he was willing to come to me, especially since it’s only been a few weeks. He told me that the “voices were getting too loud.” Not entirely sure what the kid means by voices, but it’s definitely concerning. Something from the piglins I would assume. All he really told me is these voices are making him violent and are getting harder to control. I need to figure out how to keep it in check. Maybe I can try training him? He’s a good fighter, almost concerningly so. I’ll have to ask him about it more another time.

When he trusts me to open up enough to talk about what he’s been through.

He stared at the writing, vaguely remembering the day he told Phil about the voices. He was terrified of hurting the man who saved him, so he told him one of his most guarded secrets at the time, Chat. Surprisingly, Phil had been understanding. He had taken the afternoon to think about solutions, before settling on taking him underground to kill any mobs they could find. It was a simple action, but it had touched the young piglin in ways Phil hadn’t understood.

Techno flipped through a few more pages, eyes skimming over notes Phil had taken on his behavior and what he told him about the voices. It wasn’t anything new, just common information anyone else in his position could figure out. He stopped on one page, torn from an old book and wrinkled in the haste of shoving it into a bag years ago. It was from one of the few books piglins kept close in an old library, if it could be called that. The walls were in ruin, and most of the books were enchanted, but they refused to let outsiders inside, no matter how much gold the two of them had offered. Instead, they decided to sneak in, hoping to find some kind of record about Techno’s predicament. They had found a single passage, in a single book, before getting chased out. It was the only text about the Blood God they had ever really found, being forced to rely on word of mouth and Techno’s own memories from when he had been a child.

The text was in piglin, as to be expected, but Techno had been able to translate for Phil. The common translation was written on the adjacent page, once again in Phil’s handwriting.

When one Champion dies, another is swiftly chosen through Trials. These Trials are required by all able-bodied Piglins. They are thinned out through various tasks before the remaining piglins are pitted against one another. The victor is deemed the new Champion of the Blood God and receives the gifts from the Blood God.

Each Champion is given the status of Player, allowing them to travel to the Overworld without losing themselves and are given the standard three “lives.” Additionally, they are subjected to the voices of those who have fallen victim to the bloodlust of the Blood God’s Champion. Many have tried to remove these voices, but they have all failed. In some

The rest of the passage was torn away, lost to wherever the library had been in the Nether. He flipped through more pages filled with notes and ideas that Phil had come up with to help keep Chat satisfied. They never worked for long.

As he flipped through each page, a familiar sense of frustration nagged the back of his mind. There was so little information about the Blood God outside of piglin communities, and talking about the Champions were almost taboo in places. Most feared it was bad luck, that mentioning anything guaranteed one would wake up to a blood bath. Others saw it as a form of respect for those who the Blood God chose. To them, it was almost sacred, something that Players from the Overworld should never be allowed to influence.

Techno was ripped from his reading with a faint tapping on the window next to him. He let out a small sigh, opening the window for a small crow. Despite himself, he found himself slightly smiling. “Hey there. Phil sent you to check on me, I’m assumin’?”

The crow hopped onto Techno’s hand, its head tilting to the side. “You can tell him not to worry so much about me. I can manage,” he paused. “...for a bit.”

The exhaustion from the recent events of the past few days seemed to finally overwhelm the warrior. He sank into his chair, any attempt at decent posture thrown to the wind. “I don’t know what to do. It’s been only two days and I’ve had everything I made here uprooted. No more retirement, no more Chat, two teenagers now living here, and one of them is just completely traumatized. I don’t know how to deal with this. I can’t even think properly.” He let out a lifeless laugh, leaning his head back into the wall. “I spent so much time trying to get rid of Chat and now that they’re gone, I just feel alone.”

Feathers brushed against his cheek and a small beak nipped at his ear. Techno moved his hand up to the bird, gently guiding it away with a scratch on the top of the head. “Just tell Phil I can manage for a little bit longer here. We can stage a rescue mission soon and get him out of L’manberg. Keep an eye on the situation, and just stay safe.”

Standing up, he made his way back to the window, moving the crow from his shoulder onto the ledge. It let out a single caw before taking off, leaving Techno alone once again.

His mind began wandering. Killing mobs hadn’t seemed to do anything to bring back Chat. It was possible that dying again would bring them back, but…

Dying had been terrifying. He would never admit it to anyone, but that brief moment he was dead was enough to shake him to his very core. Every time he blinked, he saw the anvil falling, passing through his skull. Sometimes, he swore he could also see a flash of someplace else. Red, and full of fire. He put particular effort into ignoring those thoughts.

He put his arms on the windowsill and rested his head in his hands. Tommy had died, hadn’t he? Maybe he could-

He shook his head. No, Tommy was gone. And even if he wasn’t, he probably couldn’t provide any valuable insights into how to deal with dying. If anything, he’d just call Techno a bitch for being so afraid of death. The kid wasn’t known for his empathy. And yet…

Techno watched the sun set as his thoughts drifted to the talk they had had about losing people. It was… surprisingly helpful, considering the source. More surprising than that was how nice it was to find some common ground with Tommy, even if it only lasted a few moments.

That was the crux of it. Tommy was an annoying kid, and yes, he and Techno had enough bad blood to fill an ocean, but… who else did Techno have right now? Philza’s message, as nice as it was to receive, also made Techno painfully aware of how far away his only friend was. Of how alone he was.

As Techno mulled over this line of thought, he barely even noticed his eyes start to drift closed as day slowly began to turn to night. But the second his eyelids shut all the way, he was subjected to seeing his memories of the anvil, and was abruptly woken up by the echoes of his own scream as his cranium was caved in.

Techno shot up, suddenly alert. He scanned the tundras surrounding his home. No one was nearby to see his moment of vulnerability. He let out a heavy sigh. How long had he been awake? He couldn’t sleep after his execution, but even before that, he had been marched all night to L’Manberg by the Butchers. So, three days without sleep. He snorted. That was nothing! In the past, he’d been able to stay on his feet for a week! What was different now?

For the second time that evening, Techno heard a scream that snapped him back to reality. But it wasn’t from him. This time, it came from the forest. And it sounded like Tommy. Wasting no time, Techno vaulted out the window, hitting the cold ground as he dashed into the trees.

Chapter Text

Small snowflakes hit Tommy’s face as he rushed out of the small home. His breath caught in the back of his throat, but he didn’t care. All he cared about was that he was on the verge of a breakdown and he was not about to have a panic attack in front of fucking Technoblade of all people. He wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of it.

He rushed through the snow into the safety of the forest and sat against a tree that blocked Technoblade’s home (his home, brief as it ended up being) from his sight. As he slumped against the rough bark, he ignored the stab of cold he felt as snow got under his clothes. Instead, he tried to not think about Technoblade, and how, for a brief moment, the warrior had almost seemed like he could be a-

Tommy shook his head, cutting off that line of thought before it went too far. Technoblade was, at best, an ally. Nothing more. And after their argument, he probably wasn’t even that. And as much as Tommy wanted to say Technoblade was a dick and be done with it, he couldn’t help but feel a slight sense of deja vu. An ally, an argument, and finally him alone.

“Am… Am I at fault?” Tommy asked the snow around him. The words sounded so wrong to say. Of course he wasn’t at fault, it was all the assholes around him that were at fault, not him.

And yet… something about that felt even more disingenuous now. Some part of him, a very, very small one, couldn’t help but keep track of all the people that had gotten rid of him. And it hurt to admit that to himself. It hurt more than any arrow or sword ever could. People were probably waiting for excuses to kick him out of their lives and never look back.

Tommy slammed his hand into the side of a tree, knocking some snow onto his head. He ignored it, hitting the tree again and again. The sting of the cold snow and the thudding pain in his hand did a good enough job distracting him from his thoughts, but no matter how many distractions he put up, he had opened a door that couldn’t be closed. He wasn’t a perfect person like he always pretended to be. Hell, he wasn’t even a good person. He was a fuck-up. The disc wars. L’Manberg. Wilbur. Tubbo. And now Technoblade as well. The list of things Tommy seemed to fuck up seemed to have no end. Just more failures and lost friends. He let out a breath he hadn’t realized he had been holding. That was all just emotions talking, not how things really were. He still had friends, after all. He had… he had…

He had no one.

You have Dream, a brief thought whispered.

That was the problem, Tommy didn’t know how to feel about Dream. What he did was wrong, and part of Tommy knew that. It screamed at him that what happened was wrong and Dream was just manipulating him. Even so, another part of him longed to go back. He was desperate for Dream’s approval and affirmations, leaving him to justify what Dream did as a result of Tommy being a horrible selfish person. It almost felt like he was being torn apart, and he was just so tired. People were always fighting, always at war, always betraying each other.

Betrayal. Like Techno to Tubbo. Like him to Techno. And… and like Tubbo to him. Tommy felt tears threatening to burst forth as all the emotions he had suppressed began rising up in him. Why was he suck a fuck up? It’s not like he wanted to be like this. He just wanted to be loved! Was that too much to ask?

A loud, gut-wrenching sob tore through his throat, tired and mournful. He couldn’t stop the tidal wave of emotion that was overtaking him, so he sobbed into the cold air.

Tommy grieved. For Wilbur, the closest person he had to family. For his youth, torn apart by wars he never should have played a part in. For Tubbo, his dearest friend who he had pushed away, who he hurt, who he couldn’t bear to ever face again.

He curled in on himself, fingers desperately intertwined with his shirt, as though it would keep him from falling apart. Each sob rang out, large, warm tears finding themselves falling into the snow, and Tommy just sat there, crying and grieving until there weren’t any tears left to shed.

Tommy sat there, not sure how long he stayed in that spot. Not moving, not making any noise, just letting the snow drift down onto him. He felt he could have stayed there until he froze, when he heard footsteps approaching him.

“Tommy?” The boy looked up to see Ranboo cautiously approaching. “Are.. are you okay?”

He quickly wiped the tears from his face, doing his best to hide the evidence of his breakdown. “I’m fine,” he answered hoarsely, cringing over how pathetic he sounded.

Ranboo let out a worried chirping sound, but didn’t press further. Instead, he helped Tommy up from the snow. His pants were soaked through, along with his shoulders and back, and could barely feel his fingers.

“We should get you back to Technoblade’s house,” Ranboo suggested.

Tommy immediately shook his head, forcing his way past Ranboo and trudging through the snow. “I’m not going back there. Techno clearly doesn’t want me around.”

Ranboo quickly followed after him. “I think he’s just mad? I mean,” he let out a nervous laugh, “he didn’t kill me, and we almost executed him.”

Tommy stopped. “You haven’t fought a war with him. Or been told that you were the one who betrayed him, when he just destroyed everything you worked so hard to get back for so long.” His voice was barely a whisper, but it shook all the same.

Taking a few steps forward, Ranboo hesitantly put a hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “Maybe but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t care. I think that if you talked it out-”

Suddenly, Tommy whirled around, glaring at Ranboo. “You don’t get it. In fact, you can’t even begin to understand what’s happened here! You only joined this fight recently, and what time you have spent here you’ve just been following others!”

“He is a good follower,” said a voice above the two of them that made them freeze. Slowly, Tommy drew his eyes up to see a terrifyingly familiar person sitting casually on the boughs of a tree. Dream waved, and even through his mask, Tommy could feel the sadistic smile growing on his face. “Hey, Tommy. I was so worried when I couldn’t find you. Thank goodness I found you,” the man said, his voice oozing with fake concern. He dropped down in front of the two teens, barely even stopping his speech as he stepped closer to Tommy. “I was so worried when you disappeared like that.” He put his hand on the boy’s shoulder and squeezed it hard. He leaned in, his mask inches from Tommy’s face. “This time, I’ll have to make sure you never have a chance to run off like that again.” The smile on his mask seemed to twist and warp, becoming a terrifying, sharp-toothed grin.

Tommy’s breath came out faster and shorter, his heart pounding in his ears. Dream was here, he had found him! He had to run! The boy tried to pull his shoulder free of Dream’s grasp, which only made him grab tighter. The breath caught in Tommy’s throat as fear gripped his body as he let out a scream of pure, unadulterated fear.

Dream watched patiently, amused by Tommy’s evident pain. He waited to speak until Tommy went quiet. “Got it all out of your system?” Tommy couldn’t answer, his breath catching in his throat once again as he stared at the mask that haunted his nightmares.

Dream nodded, seemingly satisfied. “Good. Then I think it’s time we left these frozen plains and went home.”

Ranboo took a hesitant step towards Dream, drawing his sword. “Dream,” he spoke out quietly. “I-I really don’t think-”

Dream’s head spun around to face Ranboo. In that moment, the half-Enderman lost track of where he was, what he was doing, even his own identity. He staggered back, falling silent. His eyes were unfocused as he stared at Dream, almost waiting to be told what to do.

“You’ve made friends?” Dream asked incredulously, turning back to Tommy. “I didn’t think there was anyone left who could stand the sight of you! I’ll have to tell them about the real you sometime.” He let out a laugh. “Ah, just like Tubbo.” He tilted his head as Tommy winced at the name. “Well, I don’t know about you, but I think it’s time we got out of here.” Dream turned around, seeing a familiar pig staring him down, breathing hard. “...Techno.”

“Dream.”

Dream studied the warrior, his smile falling. “I was just collecting my friend here. I’m sure he was a lot of trouble. Probably more than he was worth in the end, I bet.”

Technoblade seemed conflicted, but didn’t make any move to stop Dream. “Well, you’re not wrong…”

Dream’s grin returned. “Believe me, you’re not the first to say that about Tommy here.” He pulled the boy a step closer. “And you probably won’t be the last.”

Technoblade let out a breath. Why had he cared so much for the little punk, anyway? He elected to ignore the part of him screaming to protect Tommy, running a hooved hand through his coarse fur. “Yeah, you’d probably be doing me a favor.”

“So, I assume we’re done here? No need to call in my favor?” Dream asked, putting his arm around the now frozen Tommy. He stared at Techno, silently begging for help.

He tore his own gaze away, turning to face the hunter before him, nodding. “That kid is too much trouble. Can’t imagine why you’d want to keep him, but knock yourself out.”

Dream’s grin seemed to grow more sinister behind his unmoving mask. “In that case, I hope you enjoy the rest of your day. Come on, Tommy.” He pulled the boy back as he stared at Techno with wide eyes.

“You’re just… giving me up?” He whispered.

Technoblade shrugged. “Sorry, Tommy. This isn’t my fight.”

Tommy hung his head as Dream forcefully turned him around and walked off with him.

Techno made his way over to Ranboo, gently shaking him out of the haze. “Kid? You with me?”

He blinked a few times, looking at the shrinking figures. Quietly, he turned to the pig, realizing what had happened. “After all we just did to hide him, one little disagreement and you give him up to Dream?”

“Like I said, it’s not my fight.” Technoblade looked at Tommy one last time. The feeling of guilt rose up in him, almost to an overwhelming degree. Yes, Tommy was annoying, and yes, they had their disagreements. But surrender was never his style. Neither was cowardice. His grip on his sword tightened.

“But he’s just a kid!” Ranboo pleaded.

Techno held out his hand to the half-Enderman, who simply stared at him, pleading. He let out a sigh. “Damn it. Damn it all.” He held up his sword and studied the pair leaving the forest. “Don’t let him say I never did anything for him.” With a grunt of exertion, he flung the sword overhead. It spun, end over end, flying straight for Dream.

Some sixth sense made Dream turn just in time. The blade shattered his mask, sending pieces of his smile into the snow. Blood dripped from his forehead, staining the white powder beneath him. He let out an amused hum. “Guess we’re not done.” As he reached down to draw his sword, a crossbow bolt slammed into a gap in his armor under the shoulder, burying itself deep. Dream gritted his teeth, forcing down a yelp of pain. He focused on Techno, waiting for his next move. He saw the glint of a bolt and readied himself. As he heard the crossbow fire, he pulled out his shield and blocked it. He grinned. “I thought this wasn’t your fi-” a third bolt, fired sooner than Dream had expected, slammed into his ankle. Dream cried out and dropped to one knee, his smile gone. A fourth bolt knocked the shield out of his hand, leaving him defenceless. He looked up and saw not just any person, but a warrior of the Blood God, fire burning in his eyes as he approached him. For the first time in, well, a long time, Dream felt fear well up inside him.

Techno handed his empty crossbow to Ranboo as he approached the downed Dream. The Minuteman handed him a loaded one and worked on reloading the other. Blood was making its way down, turning much of the snow all around Dream a deep crimson. Techno kept his eyes trained on him as he fired a bolt into Dream’s dominant hand. There was no scream this time, but there was very little Dream could do to hide the amount of pain he was experiencing.

“Oh Dream,” he said as he got closer. “You of all people should remember. All warfare is based on deception.” Techno slammed his foot into Dream’s chest, knocking him onto his back. He planted his foot on his enemy’s collarbone, pinning him to the blood-stained snow. He held out his hand to Ranboo expectantly. “So, wanna cash in that favor?”

Dream spat onto Techno’s boot. “For something as minor as this? I’ll pass.”

Techno shrugged as a loaded crossbow was placed into his hand. “Suit yourself.” He fired the bolt into Dream’s ear. As he screamed in pain, Techno couldn’t help but smile a little, in spite of himself.

Ranboo cleared his throat, trying his best to not incur Technoblade’s wrath. “Hey, you want me to take him back inside?” He pointed to a very cold and crumpled Tommy.

Techno nodded. “I’ll be right behind you.” He slammed the wood of the crossbow into Dream’s face, knocking him out and probably breaking his nose at the same time. The man rested limply on the snow as Techno pulled out a wooden sign. He planted it next to Dream, so it would be the first thing he saw when he woke up. As a final message, he wrote two simple numbers on it before following Ranboo.

7-4.

Chapter Text

The walk back to Techno’s home was the quietest and most uncomfortable five minutes of Tommy, Techno, and Ranboo’s lives. All of them wanted to say something, wanted to break the silence, but were completely unable to. It wasn’t until they reached the house that Ranboo finally spoke up. “So… you don’t hate Tommy?”

Techno let out a sigh, rubbing the back of his head. “I don’t know. I barely know him, really. I met him when I came here to help Wilbur.” Tommy froze briefly, seemingly forcing himself to keep moving. “When I came to Pogtopia, he was just some kid that tagged along with Wilbur. I did what I had to do, and that was that.”

“Can we not talk about Pogtopia? Please?” Tommy spoke up, giving Technoblade a tired look.

He threw his hands up. “Alright kid, we don’t have to talk about that. However, I need to know why Dream is after you and if this is going to be a consistent problem.”

“That’s not your busi-” A cold stare from Techno stopped Tommy from continuing further. He sighed. “It’s… a long story.”

A raised eyebrow prompted Tommy to continue.

“Dream’s fuckin’ obsessed with me or something. He wanted me to stay in exile, I decided that I wasn’t to do that, and now he wants to drag me back.” He refused to look Technoblade and instead stared straight ahead of the trio.

“That still doesn’t explain why he’s ‘obsessed’ with you,” Techno pointed out. He knew Dream well enough, the two of them having fought against each other several times. He might even consider Dream someone closer to him than most, and it just didn’t make sense for Tommy to suddenly be the center of his attention.

Tommy let out a strained sigh, turning around. “I don’t know. Something about me being a problem for L’manberg.” He crossed his arms, staring at Technoblade. “Happy?”

He could already feel a headache coming on, and for once his voices weren’t the cause of it. Or a falling anvil.

“It doesn’t make any sense, Tommy. It shouldn’t matter if you’re in one place or another. As long as you’re not in L’manberg, right?” Techno glanced at Ranboo for confirmation.

The Minuteman nodded. “That’s what the agreement was. Dream was supposed to lead you out of the country and help you get set up in your own place.”

“Well, he didn’t,” Tommy snapped.

An anxious warble worked its way out of Ranboo. “It’s not like we could have done anything. Dream would have walled everyone in.”

He rolled his eyes. “It’s not like we’ve beat him before or anything.” Tommy turned to Technoblade. “What about you, big man? You’ve been acting weird since I got here, even by your standards.

Technoblade raised his eyebrow. “Weird how, exactly?”

“Well, for one thing, you’re not nearly as much of a dick as normal.”

The pig rolled his eyes. “You’re too kind.”

“And another thing,” Tommy continued. “What was with that talk the other day? You were acting like you needed advice on losing a friend or something.”

“That was…” Techno stumbled to find an excuse. “...entirely for your benefit. You needed some common ground to talk to someone about.”

The boy eyed him closely. “I’m not an idiot, Techno-”

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“-I know what you’re normally like. And you’re not acting like that anymore. Why not?”

Technoblade shrugged. “People change, Tommy. I got executed. It can put things into perspective.” Ranboo rubbed the back of his neck nervously at the mention of the execution.

“Bullshit. You lost something. Or someone.”

Ranboo took a step towards Tommy. “If he did, maybe we should, you know, give him time to process his grief. He’ll talk when he’s ready. Right, Techno?”

“I’m not grieving, I just-”

Ranboo leaned towards the pig. “You’ve been going through a lot. How about we get you some sleep?”

At the mention of sleep, Techno felt his step falter momentarily. When had he last slept? So much had happened, it felt like it had been months since he had last gone to bed. Hell, he’d probably need to hibernate at this point. “Yeah, alright. I could go for some sleep.”

Tommy stared up at the pig as they reached the house. “Don’t think I don’t know what you’re doing. I will get to the bottom of this, one way or another. You’ve been acting weird, and I’m gonna find out why.”

Techno ruffled the boy’s hair as he passed by him into his home. “Whatever you say, kid. Whatever you say.”

Ranboo gave Tommy a sympathetic look as he followed the pig. “I’m sure he’s just ti-” the rest of his sentence was cut off as his head smacked directly into the doorframe. The Enderman crumpled to the ground and shouted unintelligible curses into his arm. “Every time!”

Tommy patted the Enderman on the back as he hopped over him and into the house. “I’ll just leave the door open for you, then.”

“Don’t get any blood on my porch!” Techno called as he went to his room. “The stains will take forever to remove!”

Ranboo could only let out a little whimper as he pulled himself inside and shut the door.

Tommy and Ranboo watched the giant piglin make his way up the ladder and into his bedroom, leaving the two of them alone. This wasn’t really what Tommy wanted, at all, but he didn’t have a choice. If he went outside, Dream might come for him. So, inside he stayed, sitting at the kitchen table with a mug of hot chocolate warming his numb hands.

Ranboo sat across from him, gently rubbing his forehead where a bump had begun to form.

“You good, Ranboob?” Tommy asked. He grinned at the enderman, who just sighed at the nickname.

“I’ll be fine. It’s not the first time I’ve hit my head on something, and I don’t think it’ll be the last.”

A silence fell between them, not quite comfortable but not quite awkward. They were both waiting for the other to speak up, ask about the unanswered questions about L’manberg and Tommy’s escape from exile.

Ranboo spoke up first.

“You didn’t have to cover for me, y’know. It’s not like I really remember doing anything, so I probably would have gone with whatever you said.”

Tommy stared at his mug. “I could have, I guess. But you just got here, and I was the one who dragged you into my mess. It just wouldn’t have sat right with me, I think.” He shrugged, looking back up. “I doubt it would have changed my situation much.”

“I…” Ranboo paused, trying to think of the right words. “Tubbo didn’t want to exile you. At all. He kept trying to figure out ways around it while still pacifying Dream. He put him in a tough situation and there wasn’t any good reason out.” Despite the discomfort, Ranboo looked directly into Tommy’s eyes. “Tubbo feels extremely guilty and regrets what he did. He did go to Logshedshire to visit you. He was really excited, too.”

A nervous laugh broke the strenuous eye contact as Tommy looked away. “Well, that’s probably not a good thing.”

“What do you mean?”

“Dream might have blown the place up before I left. And there’s some other stuff that might be a bit concerning.” He let out another nervous laugh, this one considerably louder. Tommy wasn’t going to admit what happened that night, especially not to Ranboo. It had been such a low point for him, and he would take that to his grave. However, it looked like Tubbo wasn’t going to give him the opportunity.

Maybe it would be better if Tubbo thought he was dead. He could just continue hiding out with Technoblade, force Ranboo to forget that Tommy was here, and just live on his own. After all the trouble and stress of L’Manberg, maybe it was time to make a new life away from that.

And yet…

He felt the familiar weight of the compass in his pocket. He unconsciously started reaching for it, before jerking his hand back up to his mug. “Anyway, what are you gonna do now?”

The Enderman looked at Tommy, seemingly taken aback by the sudden question. “Me?”

Tommy nodded. “Yeah, are you gonna try and stick around for longer? Maybe help Technoblade take down L’Manberg?”

Ranboo thought for a while. “I… don’t think I want to see L’Manberg get destroyed, if I’m being honest.”

Tommy sipped. “Well, Techno’s not gonna like that. Destroying that country seems to be a big thing for him.”

“Well… Maybe I can convince him otherwise.”

“You? Convince Technoblade to not destroy a government?” Tommy chuckled. “Good fucking luck with that one, mate.”

The Enderman blushed. “Well, you never know. He was content to live out here without bothering anyone. Maybe that’s still an option for him.”

“Yeah, until someone dragged him all the way to L’Manberg to execute him.”

Ranboo shifted uncomfortably. “...Maybe I could start with a heartfelt apology?”

Tommy leaned forward. “No, no, you don’t apologize. Never apologize if you can avoid it. It makes you look weak. He won’t respect you.”

“That… doesn’t sound like good advice.”

Tommy waved his hand dismissively. “That’s cuz you haven’t been around as long as I have. Trust me, people around here only respect strength.”

“I will… definitely think about that.”

Tommy nodded. “Good.” He down the rest of his mug. “Now, I think I could use some shuteye too.”

Ranboo took the mugs. “I’ll just take care of these.”

“Whatever you say. See you in the morning, Ranboob.” Tommy waved as he went down to his room. As he descended the ladder, he found himself thinking about Tubbo again. True, Ranboo’s optimism was stupid, but… what if an apology was all it took? Could it really be that easy?

Thousands of blocks away, Tubbo got ready to go to bed. As he slipped under the covers, he absentmindedly reached for where the compass should be sitting, only to find air. Tears stung in the corners of his eyes and he let out another muffled sob. He couldn’t bear the thought of what he had done, the image of a dirt tower burned into his memories, and he sobbed into his pillow, regretting ever taking the role of President.

Tommy tried his best to keep the compass out of his mind as he went to bed. He lasted all of two minutes before pulling it out and staring at it. It had been so long since he’d even talked to Tubbo. What could he say, if he had the opportunity to apologize? “I’m sorry Dream thought I was a liability” didn’t sound right in his head, and it probably would only sound worse out loud. He also didn’t want to seem weak in front of Tubbo, of all people.

He didn’t think that being upfront was possible. There was anyways too much to unpack with his emotions, too much guilt and trauma that he barely even understood. Everything from Pogtopia until now had been a mess and left unseen scars on the teen. How could he properly apologize without revealing those scars, opening up a part of himself that was so terrified of being left alone again.

Would apologizing even work?

Throughout his exile, Dream would ignore his apologies. Nothing he said was ever good enough to warrant Dream’s forgiveness until all of his items were blown to bits. It was only then that Dream “forgave” him, not that it made a difference in his treatment.

Maybe he could practice on someone first.

Technoblade would probably want an apology, right?

This was the last thought Tommy had for the night, as he finally drifted off into a dreamless night for the first time in a long time.

Chapter Text

Technoblade opened his eyes. He wasn’t in his room. He was-

“Wait, what is Punz doing?”

His head jerked up at the familiar words. Was this some sort of dream?

“Big Q, pull the lever!”

His heart skipped a beat. “HEH?” Instinct took over, and he started pulling at the bars of his cage. He would not experience that feeling again. This was his dream, and he was in control, damn it! With a burst of inhuman strength, he began to separate the bars.

“PULL THE LEVER, BIG Q!”

Techno roared with exertion as he pushed against the unyielding metal. The gap was just big enough that he could-

Pain tore through his body.

Every bone in his body screamed as they were snapped and shattered by the crushing weight of the anvil. Every muscle burned as they were torn, then knit back together as the healing golden energy of the Totem of Undying pulled him back together.

As soon as it happened, it was over. Technoblade gasped a breath into his newly reformed lungs. He had survived, just as he had before. As he tried to escape his cage, though, an unexpected weight kept him from moving. The warrior looked down.

It was horrendous. His legs had fused hideously with the anvil, up to his knees. He started to sweat. What the hell was this? This wasn’t how it happened last time! With renewed desperation, he tried to pull himself and the anvil to the gap in the bars he made.

“He survived!” Someone yelled.

“Somebody, finish him off!”

/Technofail/

He froze. That last voice didn’t come from the crowd. Techno started to sweat.

/You’re such a loser/

There it was again. He could hear them again! 

/See, this is exactly why we moved on/

/You’re such an absolute failure, you can’t even die right/

/Let them eat pig, then/

An arrow flew into Techno’s shoulder. The impact knocked the distracted pig back into his cage. The pain of it snapped him back to the situation at hand. He had to escape, no matter what! Especially now that Chat was back. 

/Technoblade never dies/

/He does this time/

/F/

Another arrow plunged into his chest. Desperately, he yanked it out and hacked at his knees with it. Sweat poured down his face as the arrowhead broke through his thick hide. “Come on, come on! Technoblade never dies, and he’s not starting today!”

/Too late/

/He’s right behind you, isn’t he?/

A cold, chillingly angry voice spoke up from behind Technoblade. “First time for everything, Techno.” He turned, and saw the familiarly scarred face of Tubbo. In his hands was an even more familiar crossbow loaded with fireworks. 

He gulped. “Listen-”

The rest of his sentence was cut off in a searingly painful explosion of white.

Technoblade sat bolt upright, drenched from head to hoof in sweat. He sat there, fighting off every instinct to run, hide, fight, survive, survIVE, SURVIVE -

“Techno?” A drowsy voice pulled him from his spiraling thoughts. He blinked, his focus slowly falling onto the blond figure sitting next to his bed. 

“...Tommy? What are you doing in my room?”

He let out a series of panicked stuttering, scrambling away from Techno’s bed. “N-nothing! We were just making sure you weren’t dead.”

“We?” Techno repeated, slowly facing forward. Looming over the foot of his bed was a very quiet half-Enderman. Ranboo stared at Techno, his unblinking eyes intently focused. “...Were you two watching me sleep? Because if so, we may need to have a talk about privacy.” 

Ranboo fiddled with his hands nervously. “You weren’t waking up and Tommy was starting to get worried-”

“I was not!” Tommy quickly interrupted, jumping up and flinging the nearest item at him. Ranboo threw his arms up with a screech, and Techno watched as his precious crown fell to the ground with a clatter.

The two of them froze, and almost simultaneously, turned to stare at Technoblade. 

With a sigh, he untangled himself from his sheets and swung his legs over the bed, a hand dragging over his face. “Please, don’t throw my stuff around. Especially this early in the morning.” He stooped down, grabbing the crown, and began looking over it. His hand ran over the familiar metal, searching for any new damage. 

“I wouldn’t call it morning, big man. ‘S probably closer to noon,” Tommy nervously admits. 

Technoblade made a mental note of a new dent in the gold, and looked back up. “Noon?” Tommy nodded. The pig stood up and looked out the window. The sun was high up in the sky, light reflecting over the snow with an almost blinding glare. Good grief, he should have been up hours ago. 

Late starts to the day were never fun.

“Is that why you two are in my room?” He turned to face the duo once again. “I slept in?” The two stayed silent, Tommy seeming to look everywhere but Techno’s face. He raised an eyebrow at him. “That’s not exactly a great excuse.”

“You never slept in when we were at Pogtopia,” he muttered. “Excuse me for getting fuckin’ worried.”

Despite himself, Techno couldn’t help but smile a bit. “Never thought a kid like you would care,” he teased. He stood up, ignoring Tommy’s cries of denial, and ushered the two out of his room, insisting that he had to get dressed. “But afterwards,” he added, “the three of us have a lot to do.”

Overall, the day went surprisingly well. Technoblade had Tommy and Ranboo take care of some chores around the house while he checked Carl. Being able to have time to himself after a rough morning was nice, and if the nightmare left him shaken up, well, they were none the wiser. And if anything could help him calm down, it was his beloved steed. 

He checked over his prized horse, looking for any lingering injuries from their escape from L’Manberg. There was a small cut from Quackity’s axe, but otherwise he was fine. The wound was healing cleanly, and Carl didn’t seem at all bothered by it.  

“Sorry about that whole mess,” Techno muttered. “If it makes you feel better, I don’t think I came out of that unscathed either.” Carl merely snorted in reply, nosing at Techno’s pockets for the golden carrots he knew he had. He chuckled and fed some of them to the overly eager horse. Happily bribed, Carl remained still as Techno brushed and washed him. 

As he ran his brush through Carl’s rough mane, Techno scoured around the snowy landscape that surrounded his home for anything suspicious. The Butcher Army had found his home before, and after his fight with Dream, they would probably do so again. Standing between him and Tommy had undoubtedly sent a very clear message to the homeless god. With any luck, Dream would actually take the hint and stay away. The most likely, and far less ideal, option was that he would take this as a challenge and attack Tommy again. Probably with most of L’Manberg’s forces behind him this time. And as Sun Tzu said, “He will win who, prepared himself, waits to take the enemy unprepared.” The longer they waited to figure out their next move, the more likely their defeat was. 

With this in mind, he returned back to the house. “Tommy, Ranboo! Come to the front room, we have battle plans to discuss.” The two shuffled in and gathered around the map Techno had laid out. “First, the house had been compromised by both L’Manberg forces and Dream, so we’ll need some form of defence. Hiding traps might work, but Dream wouldn’t fall for anything simple.”

“Maybe a silent alarm?” offered Ranboo. “Something that we can keep an eye on from inside the house?”

“That could work, but... “ The pig looked down sheepishly. “I’m no good with redstone or any of that fancy schmancy technology.”

“I never bother with the stuff,” said Tommy. Ranboo could only offer a shrug of helplessness. 

Techno sighed.“If only Phil was here. I bet he could rig something up in no time.” Regardless, he noted silent alarms(?) on the map.

“Speaking of, do you think we should get him out of L’Manberg?” Asked Ranboo.

“Dream likes to go after whatever you’re attached to to get at you,” Tommy said, rubbing his chin in concern. “The sooner you save your friend, the better.”

Techno pulled out a map of L’Manberg and surveyed it. If he were on his own, he could probably pull off a solo rescue mission. But he couldn’t leave Tommy alone at home in case Dream stopped by, so he should probably take him. That, however, would present its own setbacks. Assuming Tommy would even be able to keep quiet, Techno couldn’t trust him to not go running back to Tubbo the minute he had the chance. And Ranboo had only just defected from L’Manberg. His allegiances were more questionable than Tommy’s. 

He looked around at the currently silent room. A quick trip wouldn’t hurt, right? Dream would need time to gather his strength and rally his forces. It wouldn’t be anything big, just reconnaissance and possibly touching bases with Phil. Tommy should be safe. Right?

He turned his gaze to his accomplices. Ranboo seemed ill at ease, glancing at Techno every few minutes before looking back at the map. Tommy, uncharacteristically, was silently focusing on the battle maps, particularly the one of L’Manberg. He slowly approached the two of them. 

“What if we were to get Phil back? With four of us, and especially with his talents, we stand a lot more of a chance against Dream.”

“You mean…” Ranboo looked from the map to Techno. “Break into L’Manberg? The place that is probably going to attack us in the near future?” 

Techno nodded. “Yup. That’s the one. Shouldn’t take more than, I dunno, an hour. Two, tops.” 

Tommy nodded. “Right. When are we leaving?”

“Ohhh no no no. I’m going, you two are staying here and making sure Dream doesn’t burn my house to the ground while I’m gone.”

Tommy blinked. “Are you having a fucking laugh? You expect me to let you go waltzing into L’Manberg, my home, and not come with you?”

“I, uh,” Ranboo cleared his throat. “I need to visit the city too, in the near future. I kinda left without much notice.”

Techno pinched the bridge of his nose. “This is a stealth mission, guys. I need to get in, grab Phil, and get out without anyone knowing I’m there. If we get caught, Dream will know this place is vulnerable.”

“Oh, please.” Tommy waved his hand dismissively. “I can be stealthy, no problem.”

“You would charge screaming at the first person you have a bad history with,” Techno replied. “Which these days seems to be everyone. And you-” He turned to the eight and a half foot Enderman. “...Do I even need to say anything?”

Ranboo shook his head. “You really don’t, no.”

“That doesn’t matter!” protested Tommy. “You can’t just leave us here! L’Manberg is our home!”

“L’Manberg was your home,” corrected Techno. You‘re both traitors and exiles now.”

The room’s silence returned like a shroud. In a way -in a lot of ways- Techno could almost understand where they were coming from. When you find a home, it can be near impossible to let go, no matter how it impacts you. It would just take time for Tommy to see it. After a few minutes of stewing in silence, he spoke up. “I know you two want to go back, but it’s too dangerous, especially now. Dream is probably gonna be there, and he’ll be telling everyone to keep an eye out for us. The fewer people break into L’Manberg, the less likely they are to get caught.”

“I don’t care if I get caught,” Tommy said, standing to face Techno. “I’m not just gonna sit around on my ass waiting for you or Dream to burst through that door. I’m coming with you, and you can’t stop me!”

Techno puts his hand on Tommy’s shoulder. “If we get caught, there’s no guarantee I can protect you or Ranboo. There’s a limit to what I can do.” 

Tommy scoffs. “But you’re the Blade . Surely you can hold off a few guards long enough for us to grab Phil and run.”

Techno held up a finger. “Okay, one: even if I could destroy the country and everyone in it, that doesn’t mean I want to. At least not yet.” He raised a second finger. “Two: while I am indeed the Blade, you and Ranboo are not. I’d prefer not to lose my only allies, if at all possible.” He held up a third finger. “And lastly, the less Dream knows about us and our plans, the better. Information in warfare is power.”

“He’s not wrong,” sighed Ranboo. “At best, we’d be a liability. And at worst, we could ruin the mission.” 

Tommy spun angrily on the half-Enderman. “The mission? This is our home we’re talking about! What if he destroys it again?”

Techno’s eyes widened. “Is that what you think of me? Some kind of warmongering monster who destroys countries for fun?”

“I mean…” Tommy rubbed the back of his head. “...Not entirely? But the fact that you’ve talked so much about destroying L’Manberg, and now you’re insisting we stay behind while you go to our home…”

“When you put it like that, it does sound a bit suspicious,” admitted Ranboo.

Techno shook his head and sighed. “You destroy ONE country, and they never let you live it down.” He reached into a chest. “But if you’re gonna be like that…” He rummaged through the contents until he pulled out a stone button. “Catch.” He tossed it to Tommy.

The boy caught it. “Is this… What I think it is?”

“Sure is. Don’t lose it.” Techno closed the chest. “I’ll need it to destroy L’Manberg at a later date.”

Tommy’s brow furrowed. “But… can’t you just make another?”

“I can. I can also take you both down and leave you tied up while I go fetch Phil. But I don’t want to. Call this a sign of good faith.”

Tommy looked at the simple button in his hands. “....” He let out a groan. “Fine. But if you break a single block, I’ll take you down myself when you get back.”

“Yeah, that seems fair and reasonable.” Techno held out his hand. “Then it’s a deal?” After a few moments of consideration, Tommy reached out and firmly grasped Technoblade’s hand. The pig nodded. “Oh, and Ranboo’s in charge.”

Tommy pulled his hand away. “Absolutely not! I have WAY more experience with combat than him! AND I’ve been here longer!”

Techno looked at the half-Enderman over Tommy’s shoulder. “Change his diapers in about an hour, and don’t feed him after midnight. If anyone who isn’t me or Phil approaches the house, take the invisibility potions and hide in the basement.” Ranboo gave a simple thumbs up.

“-and another thing, I’m much more tactical than Ranboo. I played a key part in Pogtopia’s victory over Schlatt.”

Techno chuckled as he opened the front door. “Whatever you say, Tommy. Now, listen to Ranboo. I’ll be back by tomorrow morning.” WIth that, he stepped out into the snow, the silence only slightly ruined by the muffled squawks of indignation behind him.

“Well,” he said to himself,” Let’s see how well I can do this without outside help.”

Chapter Text

All things considered, getting to the nether portal that led to the community house was extremely simple. There were no signs of Dream anywhere along the path to his portal, and as he travelled the nether, he couldn’t help but note how empty it was. Even as he got closer to the community portal, the paths cutting through the red landscape were completely absent of people. While it was slightly concerning, it made sneaking in painly easy. 

One invisibility potion later, Techno quickly made his way through the portal and began following the path to L’Manberg. The sun was already setting, splashes of red and orange coating the world in a golden glow. The streets were oddly empty, a flash of faded pink being the only indication of life in the quickly approaching country. At the very least, it made it easier to sneak around. It’s hard to get noticed when there’s nobody to notice you.

Regardless, he stuck to the shadows and alleyways, avoiding walking directly on the path. There weren’t many people out, from the looks of it. The streets were mostly empty, aside from a few people he didn’t really know. He reflexively rested his palm on the hilt of his sword, just in case any of them got too close. 

As he got closer to Phil’s house, a wave of familiarity washed over him. He had been right here, what, three, four days ago? Which meant that…

Slowly, he turned his head towards the spot where he died. They hadn’t bothered to take it down, or even clean it. The cage, and the anvil inside, were splattered with an all-too-familiar red. His own blood and viscera, on display. Like some sort of warning towards any enemies of L’Manberg. It was sickening. Techno felt a sense of nausea grow in him. He also, in a way, felt a lack of something.

He felt a lack of anger.

In spite of his situation, Techno had to take a moment. Ordinarily, he would be raging at the sight of this place. He was vengeful, wasn’t he? 

He blinked. Was he? Or was it just the voices, always egging him on? 

The pig leaned against a rail, trying to get his head straight. The voices… they weren’t him. They were an outside influence. And yet…

And yet…

Who was he without them, really? Did he even remember that person? And more importantly, which was he, here and now? The vengeful warrior, who craved blood, or… something else?

He never felt bad for hating those that betrayed him. Was he wrong to hate others? Was it wrong to hate the Minutemen? After working with Ranboo, it was hard to drum up any sort of anger for him. Was that wrong? Should he hate them? Was that who he was, without the voices?

He shook himself, trying to focus on the mission at hand. He could see Phil’s house now. He was almost done. Once he was in the clear, he could try and sort out the thoughts in his head. He walked up to the door and, with one last look around, slowly pried it open with a creak. Techno awkwardly shuffled in, shutting the door behind him. Turning around, he was greeted with a blade.

“Who’s there?” Phil spoke out, a dangerous edge to his voice. 

“The I.R.S.” Techno said flatly, gently moving the tip of the blade away from his face. “We found out you’ve been dodging your taxes for the past five years.”

Phil blinked, a laugh slowly rising in his lungs. “Oh, you absolute bastard,” he chuckled, sheathing his sword. “What took you so long?”

“I’ve been having to babysit some punks. Taking care of kids is tough, shocking as it may be to you.”

“Nah, mate. Parenthood is an absolute mystery to me.” Phil waved his hand in the vague direction of Techno. “Where’s your shoulder?” 

“Right about there,” Techno responded, pointing to it. Phil gave a long stare in his general direction.

“I’ll get you some milk.” Phil walks off, leaving Techno to situate himself. The walls were cleaned, almost meticulously so. No dust, not a single item out of place, with only the crafting table looking semi-used. It made the windows stand out. Instead of the normal glass panes, wood was hastily built over the empty space. They’d have to find somewhere deeper in the house to talk, in case anyone walked by and overheard them. That would cause so many problems he didn’t want to deal with. 

He walked towards the back where Phil was rummaging through a chest. “Place looks a little too clean if you ask me.”

“PRIME-” Phil jumped, straightening himself and looking for the traitor. “Don’t,” he pointed in the direction Techno’s voice came from, “Don’t fucking do that to me. Man’s gonna have a heart attack!” He bent back down, pulling out a bucket of milk and holding it out.

Techno quickly downed it, the familiar buzz of magic fading from his skin. “Aren’t you the one who keeps insisting you’re ‘not that old?’”

“Shut.” Phil straightened out once more. “Now then, I’m assuming this isn’t your run of the mill friendly visit? You were pretty vague in that letter. Just ‘Oh hey I need the research notes we did on the Blood God because Chat is giving me trouble.’ Is everything okay?”

“Wellll,” he drew out. “I wouldn’t say everything isn’t okay-”

“Techno.”

“-buuut I might have lost Chat? Y’know, from the little anvil incident? And Dream might be planning something? Oh and I’ve got the raccoon child with me back at the cabin.”

Phil blinked. “So… Just your average Tuesday, then?”

“Yeah, pretty much. Oh, and I had an existential crisis outside your door.”

“Ah Prime. You’re really trying to give me that heart attack, huh?”

Techno shrugged. “I just think it would be a great way to cap off this whole experience.”

“Well, how about you smuggle me out of the city, and then I can have all the heart attacks I can handle. Fair?”

Techno nodded. “I can do that. First things first, are there going to be any alarms that will go off once you leave your house?”

Phil held up a melted lump of metal. “Normally, yes. But I was able to melt off the security anklet this morning.”

“Oh cool. Take this then,” Techno said as he passed Phil a potion of invisibility. 

Phil held up the bottle. “To anarchy, then?”

Techno pulled out his own potion and clinked it against Phil’s. “To anarchy.” In unison, the two of them downed their drinks. The magic spread through their bodies, making them disappear instantly from view.

“Alright,” said Phil, “Best we get going, before someone comes and checks up on me.”

“Sounds good,” said Techno as he left Phil’s house. His eyes instinctively flicked around, making sure no one was around. “Coast is clear,” he said as his gaze came to rest once again on the execution platform. A chill went down his spine. “Let’s hurry up.” 

“Right behind you,” came Phil’s reply. The two of them hurried through L’Manberg silently. It was only after they had entered the Nether that Phil broke the silence. “So, what was that existential crisis you mentioned?”

Techno waved his invisible hand dismissively. “Nothing important. Just wondering if all the anger and revenge I’ve held so closely to myself is validated. You know, the usual.”

“What, like if you’re right to take revenge on people who attack you?”

“A bit, yeah. Also wondering if I’m wrong to forgive someone just because I got to know them a bit better.”

Phil was silent for a moment. Then, in the most incredulous voice Philza could muster, he asked, “Techno. Mate. Are you talking about fucking empathy?”

“Isn’t that a government building? Doesn’t sound like me.”

A laugh rose in Phil’s throat. “Fucking incredible. Man loses the magic voices in his head and suddenly discovers other people have feelings. Next you’re gonna tell me you sacrificed one of your lives to defend Tommy.”

Techno sucked air through his teeth. “I mean… I didn’t lose a life doing it...”

The sounds of Philza’s laughter echoed far and wide across the Nether’s caves.

Tommy tossed an apple in the air. “Is he back yet?” He asked, catching it as it fell back down.

Ranboo sighed and looked out the window. “Still no. Just like the last five times you’ve asked.”

Tommy threw it again.”How about now?”

“Why yes, actually. He’s suddenly standing right outside, saying something about losing his key to the front door.”

Tommy grabbed the apple again. “Dick.” He lobbed it all the way to the ceiling this time. “Hey, you’re an Enderman, right?”

Ranboo rested his head in his hand. “My, aren’t you the perceptive one. Was it the pitch black skin or the height that gave it away.”

“Jesus, you’re annoying.” Tommy groaned, just barely snatching the apple as it went awry. 

“High praise from you.”

“Shut up.” Tommy tried bouncing the fruit off the wall. “Anyway, how come you can go out in the snow? Isn’t it just frozen water?”

“I mean, regular Endermen don’t take damage from snow.”

“They don’t?” Tommy rolled the apple around in his hand thoughtfully. “Huh. Wait, what about bread?”

Ranboo looked at the boy, confused. “It’s… nice? Tastes good, I suppose.”

“No, I mean, it takes water to make, doesn’t it? So how can you eat it?” Tommy grinned as he tossed the apple as hard as he could at the wall. 

Ranboo let out another sigh and scanned the landscape outside. “There are so many things wrong with that, I don’t even know where to- TECHNO’S BACK!” The Enderman shot up, slamming his head right into the low ceiling and spewing a river of Enderian curses. 

“Ha! You should see you fa-” Tommy’s retort was cut off as the apple smashed into his face. He fell to the ground, blood dripping from his nose. “FUUUUCK! GOD FUCKING DAMMIT!”

Ranboo rubbed his head and took a few steps toward Tommy. “Yeah, doesn’t feel so good, does it ToooOOOOAAAAH!” He yelled as he slipped backwards on the apple, sending him falling headfirst into the window. There was a painful crash as his head smashed through the glass.

Just outside the house,Techno had just managed to calm down Phil's laughter as Ranboo’s head broke through his front window, followed by a string of curses that would make him blush if he knew Enderian. 

The pig nodded to him as he passed by. “Ranboo. Anything to report from my absence?”

The Enderman groaned. “Tommy’s a jerk and your house is too small.”

“Duly noted. Don’t bleed on my porch.” Techno said as he entered his house.

Phil gave Ranboo a long look as he passed him. “Minuteman,” he greeted.

“Convict,” he replied.

Phil nodded appreciatively. “Need a hand?”

“No, no,” sighed Ranboo. “I’ll be fine. Just need a moment.” He gently removed his head from the window and sat down against the wall. “Ughhhh… I think I need my own house…”

“You can have mine,” offered Phil as he looked around the interior of Techno’s home. “I’m probably not gonna be back there for a long while.” His eyes came to rest on the bleeding Tommy. “...Is it often that everyone here gets injured? Should I be worried for my safety?”

“Yes and also yes,” said Techno. “Your brittle bones will turn to dust after a mere minute of being in this house.”

“Oh noooo.” Phil slumped against the door dramatically. “It’s already setting in. My poor, feeble, old man bird bones. Please, before I go, someone tell Technoblade he’s a dick.”

“Technoblade, you’re a dick.” Tommy immediately replied.

“Thank you, dear Tommy. Now I can pass on in peace.” Phil laid down and closed his eyes. “Bleh.” He let his tongue out of his mouth. “Technoblade took my only life.”

“Tommy, loot the body,” Techno said as he sat down. 

Phil groaned and sat up. “Oh, alright. If you’re not going to be any fun, we might as well get planning.”

“Planning for what?” Ranboo asked as he pulled a shard of glass out of his cheek.

“Why, the total destruction of L’Manberg, of course.”

Chapter Text

Digi here. 

Last night, my boyfriend passed away. You know him as Srie and he helped write this fic. I say helped, but it was mostly his ideas that we wrote out. This story was his baby and it shows. 

He was a wonderful person and the best person I could have spent the last year and a half with. 

I am still processing right now and ask you to respect that. 

Because of the situation, I will not be finishing the fic. I don't even know if I could bear the thought of writing more without him. 

Thank you for everything. You made both of us smile with every comment, kudo, and bookmark. We celebrated the milestones together and appreciated every one of you. 

Please keep his family and friends in your thoughts and prayers.

Again, thank you.