Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“I can’t believe it’s shutting down.” Luke announced in disbelief.

SMPEarth, the place you go for war and violence. It was well known among the world's how dangerous the place could get. Unlimited lives, unlimited deaths. Not as terrible as 2b2t, not even close. Nothing would ever be as horrifying as that place. Wilbur, Chip, and Josh found SMPE, deciding it was perfect.

The invites were sent out, people came pouring in, and land was claimed. Factions arose, and with it, conflict. It was unsurprising, there was only so much land and so many people. Those who came first made a name for themselves, collecting members at later dates.

Tommy was alone in the Bay for a while, having left Hypixel at Wilbur’s invite. He could look across the Ocean, and imagine he wasn’t so alone in this world. He built his faction for nothing to something, dying over and over to the Antarctic Empire and various other factions. Everytime he lost power, he gained twice as much later on. He was in charge and ready to do business.

Wisp was a light in darkness, signifying an end to Tommy’s solo reign. He had an ally, a companion, a friend. Someone to fight side-by-side with when his allied factions abandoned him. He had a friend who would decorate Business Bay. They would become presentable, intimidating, and feared.

When Luke showed up, the two faction members were overjoyed to hear the boy wanted to join their side. Their duo became a trio, power slowly rising. They began to win fights instead of losing consistently. The Bay gained buildings, and the community chests grew larger. They gained more resources and were able to step up in the world, making a name for themselves.

Then came the betrayal. Wisp destroyed everything they worked for, all in the name of power. They had finally made peace, only for disaster to strike. Luke was despondent, staring after the plane taking his friend away. Tommy hid his hurt behind disappointment and rage. War was one thing, loss was something completely different. It brought the two closer, but every faction on the smp could tell Business Bay had lost the innocent trust of others.

As glad as Luke and Tommy were to have TimeDeo and Bitzel on their side, there was still the underlying fear of betrayal from the new members. Tommy didn’t let Deo and Bitzel know of what Wisp had done right away, waiting until they had built a form of trust to let them in on Business Bay history. 

Both were furious. Deo, who usually had a complicated relationship with emotions, felt anger on behalf of the two betrayed faction members. Bitzel felt guarded everytime they attacked the Antarctic Empire. He was sure Wisp was a loose canon who would betray his new faction just as fast. 

It wasn’t the betrayal that made them angry, but the people it was against. When first joining Business Bay, TimeDeo and Bitzel simply wanted a place to stay for the time being. They remembered Tommy from Hypixel. It was a stepping stone to starting their own factions, Deo would easily be able to. However, on their very first day they fought against the world admins, and won. Tommy dealt the final blow. He convinced Josh to give them various commodities, just through his words. That was all that they needed, Tommy had their loyalty to the very end. Knowing someone would go against someone as great as Tommy was unacceptable. They would never let him know it though. 

The four had fun while it lasted. Wars and battles were won and lost. Injuries were taken care of and property destroyed. Each of them had lives before, but the time in Business Bay had been carefree, a time for them to just exist. Now, it’s ending. People weren’t coming back, and the admins no longer were finding a use for the world. 

The thing about being an admin, is anyone could do it. You would get the power, you could control the world, but there was only so much you could enjoy by yourself. You needed people to enjoy a world with. Josh, Chip, and Wilbur wouldn’t trap people here, but them not coming back lost the spark that made a world special. 

“What do we do now?” Bitzel asked, looking for some sort of answer.

The four turned to Tommy, who stared deep into the fire. He was the leader, the creator of Business Bay. He should have all the solutions. His boys followed him into every battle, listening to his commands. Even when he didn’t want them to, they were a step behind him, a permanent shield from their enemies. He was the leader with answers.

“Easy,” Tommy breezed. “You leave.”

Deo shot up. “How can you just say that? What about Business Bay? You’re going to abandon everything we’ve worked for?”

Tommy glared. “Sit down Deo, I never said that.”

Deo returned to his chair, grumbling about being told off. Tommy looked around the circle, choosing his words carefully. “I want to say I knew this server would go on forever, but I’d be lying. We’ve all seen less and less people come back after leaving, they’re forgetting about this place. The admins don’t see any point in keeping this place alive when they have no power to gain from it. It hurts, but we have to accept it. This isn’t the end of the world though. Well, it is, but not the end of us. Deo and Bitzel.”

The two swiveled their heads at the sound of their name. “You’re going back to Hypixel. You have your own island, you can get back to training with bedwars and skyblock. Do some PvP. Luke.”

“That’s me.” Luke answered.

“You’re our builder, our socializer. You need people almost as much as I do. Go off and meet some people, join SMPs and show everyone how useful you really are. In all honesty, you could do a lot more somewhere peaceful, just living life.” Tommy stopped his protest. “I’m right and you know it. You’ll find somewhere creative, and show people what you're made of. Wisp?”

Wisp raised his head, not wanting to listen, but knowing he had to hear the tough truth. “You’re an adventurer, you can’t resist the call of a new mission. I know that’s why you left. You saw a new chance, and you took it. I’ve forgiven you, so you can stop blaming yourself.”

“Tommy I-”

Tommy held up his hand. “It’s leader talk right now. I want you to find those worlds where it’s upside down and nothing makes sense. Fix it if you can, make it worse if you want. Find something amazing, don’t let anything hold you down, especially me.”

“That’s not true!” Wisp shot up. “I regret my choice, every single day I wish I stayed. None of you are a burden, don’t think that.”

They couldn’t help but smile at Wisp’s outburst. Luke still held a bit of resentment against the man, but they would always be friends. Mistakes were made and acknowledged. 

“What are you gonna do? You can’t just go by yourself without a plan.” Deo insisted.

He was right. Tommy had given each of them a future, but said nothing for himself. This world was all they had at the moment, and they were about to lose it. They had memories, but the ores and farms would be erased. They would move worlds as Tommy said, but where would he go?

Tommy shrugged. “I might find a world for myself. I heard about an SMP that’s starting up, might get in on that.”

“What if you get hurt?” Deo pointed out. “We’re all too far away, we won’t know. We can’t protect you.”

Tommy scoffed. “Come on now, what protection do I need? You guys would be lost without my badass leadership. Calm down, you think I’d ever leave you guys behind? I always have a play, they call me Tommy Trusty after all. I just need some nature shit, hold on.” Tommy felt around the ground, picking up five small rocks. They were an ordinary brown, misshapen and covered with bits of dirt. “This is how we’ll find each other.”

“With rocks?” Wisp asked in disbelief.

Tommy rolled his eyes. “No, just watch. It’s something Wilbur showed me. He learned it from Phil. Just trust the business.”

“Sometimes I forget we’re literally at war with your family.” Deo murmured. 

The boys watched Tommy grab a knife, holding it over the rock. Very carefully, he engraved circles and lines on each stone. One by one, the stones were chiseled and set in a line. After the last stone was finished, Tommy held the knife to his finger and slid across the sharp metal. The action elicited gasps from the other boys, though confusing quickly overpowered concern. Tommy rubbed his bleeding thumb over the rocks, letting the red liquid seep in.

“You wanna give us an explanation or are you just gonna leave us thinking you're into some blood magic shit?” Luke laughed, equal parts confused and annoyed.

“I want each of you to take one. It’ll never break or damage, and no one will ever use it. Keep it with you no matter what. Never let it leave your sight. As long as you have it near you, you’ll know when one of us is in danger. Take it with you to a portal, you’ll go right to the person. Even if you somehow don’t have it with you when you’re in peril, the others will know. This is safety, it connects us.”

Bitzel picked up the stone, now completely smooth and white from the finished spell. “Safety, huh? You hear that Luke, don’t lose this.”

Luke threw his hands up in protest, rock flying away in the process. The four lost it, doubling over laughing as he scrambled to collect his new valuable.

Tommy shook his head. “You’ll lose it in a week, I bet 20 diamonds!”

“Alright Tommy, put everything in the chest and keep the book in your enderchest.”

Tommy hated this part of the prison visitation process. The worst part was Dream himself, that was no competition. But the loss of his belongings always hit him like a truck. He would get flashbacks to exile, Dream telling him to drop his armor and weapons to be destroyed.

He opened his enderchest, two open spots left. He put the key inside as sam instructed, and hesitated a moment longer.

His stone was still in his inventory, but he could keep it in his enderchest or locker. He had grown used to keeping his emergency beacon in his chest, never knowing who would show up to kill him and destroy or steal his things. It was a rock and a hard place. Risk missing his boys’ call of danger, or keeping his only way of communication safe. The enderchest it was, better safe than sorry.

“It’s all in Sam, I’m ready to go.” Tommy followed Sam through the instructions, not bothering to read his already signed books. Past him never let him down, well, not usually.

“Stay on the platform as it moves forward.” 

Tommy hated the platform. It was only a few blocks and some honey keeping him from plummeting straight into lava. The platorm over air reminded him of another platform he once made, though at that point he had been attempting animal murder. Now, he was simply visiting a murderer.

The green bastard was standing there, waiting. Tommy felt disgusted to even have Dream look at him. Every time he saw the admin, he was reminded of his failures. All of them led to one victory he would have lost if not for the entire server coming to save him and Tubbo.

The visit went great. He insulted Dream. Dream almost caused him to have a panic attack multiple times. He told Dream it was his last visit, and everything went to shit. TNT went off and Sam refused to get him out. He was trapped, scared, and alone with Dream for who knew how long. He didn’t have any weapons, no water bucket, and no hope. He lost track of how long he was in there, screaming for Sam and insulting Dream. It was only a matter of time before Dream had the last straw. There was only so much time one child could live.

On Hypixel, a boy was waiting in line for a skyblock tournament. The line was long that day, and he longed for the controlled temperature of the realm. He took a bite of bread, glaring at the sky from behind his glasses. A glow caught his attention. He hadn’t brought any enchanted armor with him, he never did when joining lobbies. His eyes widened when he realized the change in his inventory. His top right corner never changed, the same white stone having sat dormant for many months. He sprinted to the nearest portal, declining the game invite.

One boy was on his island, adding corrections to the minions on his farm. He wiped sweat from his brow, wondering how the hell he messed up so badly. Every minion had broken, all because of his placements. He wasn’t the best farmer, not by a longshot, but there was no way he was that bad. He was debating whether he should restart the whole farm from scratch when a glow caught his eye. Which was weird, because of all the rocks surrounding him, it was this particular one that was now pulsating red. He snatched it back into his inventory, making a break for his main island.

In his own world, a boy was on fire. He had been traveling single worlds, finding ones whose code was broken beyond repair. Currently, he was gaining increasingly rare items through being on fire. There were many times he thought he could fix the code of a world, make it livable. He wasn’t so sure about this one. His inventory was full of enchanted drops and he almost missed the red glow mixed in. His eye caught the old item, shocked at the change. He quickly emptied any unnecessary supplies, only keeping the best weapons and armor for himself. He ran through the nether, determined to make it back to his portal in time.

A boy waved to the crowd of people, branching off towards his house. They had just gotten back from a wither fight, the dangerous mob holding its own against the group. He would take a few days to rest, though he would only need a few hours to be back on his feet. In reality, he needed some alone time. This server was nice, but they were adamant about knowing every little thing about him. He flopped on his bed, looking at the damage his armor had been dealt. There, along with his sword, a stone shone red. He held it in his hand, amazed at the change and fearful for what it meant. He shot towards the community portal, ready to face whatever challenge he was going to encounter. 

Chapter Text

Four bodies tumbled onto the ground, spawn closing behind them. To an outside point of view, it would look like they were newly whitelisted players. In reality, they had no clue where they were or how they got there. They did know, though, that they were supposed to be there. 

“Who is putting their foot in my stomach?” One groaned. 

“Luke?”

“Bitzel?

“Luke!” 

“Wisp!”

“Wisp?”

“Deo!”

The four cackled, for a second forgetting the circumstances that reunited them. It hadn’t been so long for Bitzel and Deo, frequent Hypixel players. However, it had been ages since anyone had seen Luke and Wisp, both off on their own adventures. 

“Where have you guys been? What have you been doing?” Bitzel asked the two. 

Wisp shrugged. “I’ve been world hopping, found some crazy coding. You guys wouldn’t believe the type of stuff that’s out there.”

Luke grinned. “I bet you’ve seen some crazy stuff. I’ve been to a few different smp’s, none have come close to smp earth though. It’s so boring. I can bet you two have been on Hypixel?”

“Yup.” Bitzel confirmed. “I’ve been upgrading my island and playing some bedwars. Deo has been on that Skyblock grind, right?”

The three waited for Deo’s response, but it never came. He looked puzzled and concerned instead. 

“Hey man, you alright?” Luke asked. 

Deo dropped the bomb they forgot about. “Tommy isn't here.”

Business Bay prided themselves on always being on the same wavelength. In battle, they always knew whose back to watch. Most of the time, it brought them out on top of the situation. Sometimes, it brought upon bad idea that got them into trouble. They always knew where each other was at all times during a fight. So they all thought the same thing. 

Shit, where's Tommy.

They didn’t know much about magical rocks, but from what little Tommy explained, the fact they were here and he wasn’t meant Tommy was in danger. Like, extreme danger. Also, didn’t Tommy say they would be sent straight to him? Why are they at a spawn? They had to find their leader asap. The weird ass rock had stopped glowing for whatever reason. They had no clue whether that was good or bad. 

They turned to Luke, who was technically second in command. Luke sighed. “First, find out where we are. Second, find Tommy. Third, kill whoever tried to hurt him. Sounds good?”

A collection of agreements sounded off with a muted “kill” from Deo. 

They wandered around, collecting whatever tools and food they could before night came. They couldn’t save their leader if they were empty handed. The only one protected was Wisp, who was carrying maxed out armor. He immediately transferred the armor to Deo, who would put it to good use. Luke had miscellaneous blocks and some meat, but his armor was back in his previous smp. They had no clue how it had stayed with them, as most items would be deleted upon entering a new world. Only the enchanted rock ever stayed with them, never leaving their side.

They slept in the trees that night, if you could call it sleeping. They were on edge, knowing every minute was wasted. They had to find Tommy, but going in empty handed was suicide. Whatever it was that put Tommy in danger had to be powerful. 

The next day was spent mining. They were on the hunt for diamonds, netherite was out of the question. They wouldn’t risk going into the nether on a world they were clueless on. Even if they had the power they did, the nether was a whole other type of risk. People were one thing, ghasts were another. 

They were prepared on the third day to find civilization. They even had their suits on, sure Tommy would be proud to see the faction in their former glory. There was a slight path, worn from stomping footprints. It had to be the correct way. The four followed it for a few miles, grateful for the cold breeze and tall trees. 

Houses were what was expected, maybe a few arenas or farms. They first came to a long, wood path. They could see a house at the end, a basic square build with three other branching paths leading to who knew where. To one side, a magnificent castle. To another, stairs of the nether. To the third, a long wood road littered with buildings as far as the eye could see. That was their destination. More buildings, more people.

The center house was rugged, Luke could tell from a builders’ eye it had been destroyed a few times. TNT looked to be the work of it. Don’t get him wrong, it was quite pretty compared to the creeper holes surrounding the land. There were a lot of creeper holes. He missed when creepers were all bark and no bite. There were normal, dangerous. They spotted one walking along the path, hidden in a deep pit.

Most worlds would have some sort of theme. SMP Earth was war, with only the powerful factions having the time to create magnificent builds. Some were creative, with flight enabled and unlimited resources. Those were rare and often kept secret between friends, the powers of an admin available to a regular player. Those would create massive builds, very rarely seen. This world was chaos. There was no structure they could see from an outsiders eye. One minute, you would have a massive tower with intricate details, the next a concrete building with lopsided proportions. Luke wanted to hurl, the aesthetics were completely off. At least in Business Bay he was given free reign to design as he pleased.

The walkway was long and no one was in sight. How many people were here? They could be in a different world, though the look of spawn showed a lack of care. Did people not leave much? How did they keep up with their islands on Hypixel? Surely Simon would have stepped in had they not been in a while. Perhaps they had an excuse. There could be something in this world that was dangerous and needed complete watch. It could be the reason they're here right now. Whatever that dangerous thing is, it could have gotten to Tommy and tried to hurt him.

Their first sign of life was a man standing outside a large, red building. It was the first that Luke actually approved of. The spruce wood mixed well with the red concrete. Whoever made it had an eye for aesthetic rather than diversity. He could respect that, not many people looked into a design so carefully. He wanted to meet whoever build the tower, perhaps they could trade some building tips.

The man could be mistaken for a creeper wearing armor. He stood completely still, barely acknowledging the four approaching. He wasn’t a statue, they could see him breathing. He looked like a hotel guard, standing watch outside the enterance. They carefully approached him, unsure if he would attack or explode. Either could be an option.

“Uhhh, hello? We’re looking for TommyInnit. Have you seen him or heard of him?” Bitzel asked, not sure he would even get an answer.

There was a pause, and they almost kept walking, sure the man was in some sort of trance. “HELLO, MY NAME IS SAM NOOK. I AM WAITING FOR THE RETURN OF TOMMYINNIT SO HE MAY CONTINUE TO RUN HIS HOTEL!” Damn, this guy was loud.

Wisp snorted. “He would make a hotel, probably charge 50 diamonds per night.”

A mans voice rang out from inside the hotel. “Sam Nook, what the hell are you on about?” The owner of the voice walked outside, bi-colored glasses reflecting the sunlight. He looked thoroughly pissed off, though his annoyance turned to confusion seeing the four faction members standing in full diamond armor, poised to fight at a moment's notice. The newcomer put them on edge, even moreso than this Sam Nook fellow. He had an aura about him that the others disliked.

“Hello, maybe you can help us?” Bitzel tried again.

The man sideyed them. “You’re not from here, how did you get onto the SMP? Hold the phone, why is TimeDeo here?"

Bitzel, Luke, and Wisp stared at Deo, who pointedly stared at the wall. Well, this was awkward. Being kinda famous came with its perks, but it also made for some strange situations. Though sometimes they could work in their favor. Deo could vaguely recognize the man. Probably from SMP Earth during a business interaction, he never remembered someone in a hypixel fight.

“Fine, come inside, you better give me an explanation before I get fucking Sapnap and Badboyhalo out here. And I’d rather not talk to Bad, he’s a freak right now. All of the admins are fucked, I’m stressed. Name’s Jack by the way. Welcome to the DreamSMP I guess. You’re gonna wish you never came.”

That was an interesting comment. So there were multiple admins. That wasn't rare, but it made things more complicated. They could fight a few gods, they’d beat one already, though that one had shown favoritism towards them afterwards. If these admins were corrupt, there’s no telling what they could do. They had to get Tommy and get out of here fast. 

Jack sat behind his desk, a shiny plaque that said ‘Mr. Innit’ pushed to the side, ‘Mr. Manifold’ replacing it. Their suspicion grew even more. Something about“Now, how did you get here? Spawn is closed.”

Luke pulled out his rock, showing it to Jack from afar. “Tommy gave this to us, he did some weird magic he learned from his brother. It would bring us to whatever world he was in, no matter what. He never actually explained the technicalities. It was supposed to take us right to him, but we showed up at your spawn instead.”

Jack squinted at the weird inscription. “Yeah, sounds like something Wilbur would know. He pulled all sorts of crap when he was alive.”

“He’s dead?” Wisp exclaimed. They had no clue their old world admin had passed. They hadn’t been close, only interacting during battles, but it was still a shock.

Jack nodded slowly. “Long fuckin’ story short, he blew up the country he created, then his dad stabbed him. He was on his last canon life, you only get three after all. Third time’s the charm. Mans a ghost now, floating around somewhere near Technoblade’s house probably. Anyway, why are you here? Tommy gave you some rock, where’d he even give it to ya? You’ve never been whitelisted and we can’t leave once we come here.”

That would explain why Tommy’s island is collecting dust. That’s cruel, to trap members on a server. There’s also laws against that sort of thing. Whoever set this server up could be punished badly if Noxite finds out. As the world distributors, they keep strict laws so people don’t, well, die. At least not too often. That’s why Hypixel is the way it is. 

“He gave it to us on a different world, SMPEarth. On the last day, he promised it would keep us connected.”

Jack clenched his hands. “How ironic. Wait, you said SMPEarth? No, Business Bay? Tommy’s faction? That’s you four? Shit, I should’ve known from TimeDeo. I swear, if Techno and Philza find out your here your dead.”

“They can try to kill us.” Deo started.

“But they’ll fail.” Wisp finished.

“You were on SMPEarth?” Bitzel asked, not trying to sound rude. 

Jack was offended anyway. “Yes, I was. Just because I wasn’t important like the Antarctic Empire or Business Bay doesn’t mean I’m weak.”

“He said it, not me.” Bitzel mumbled. 

Deo snapped his fingers. “No, I remember you. Tommy scammed you out of diamonds with his casino.”

“Listen,” Wisp interrupted. “We’re not trying to start any fights at the moment. What happened is in the past. We’re just looking for Tommy.”

Jack's entire demeanor changed as the mention of finding their leader. Before he had been fine mentioning him. It was them looking that brought the shift. His eyes dropped to the ground, anger leaving his frown and changing into something sadder. “I think you guys came at the wrong time. You probably shouldn’t have come at all, actually.”

“Where is he?” Deo knew Jack was hiding information.

“Maybe you guys should sit down for this. I’m not the best at emotional stuff, Ranboo is the one who's been spreading the word.” Jack gestured to the chairs.

Ranboo was a name unfamiliar to them. There was no Ranboo on SMPE. They hadn’t met anyone by that name in any other world either.

“Where, Jack.” Deo insisted.

Jack put his head in his hands, muffling his voice. His words were still clear enough for everyone in the room to hear.

“He’s dead.”

The only sound was their own breathing and the animals meandering outside. Wind rustled the desk papers. There was a crash, someone’s sword falling to the ground.

“You’re a liar.” Luke growled. “Tell us the truth.”

“I’m telling you the fucking truth.” Jack yelled, wincing at his own voice. “We got the message a few days ago, Dream beat him to death. It was a canon death. Sam is still keeping his fucking body in that god forsaken prison, we can’t even do a burial. It’s a mess, you couldn’t have come at a worse time. Now I have to run his stupid hotel.”

Sam. Dream. Prison. None of the words made sense. The situation didn’t make sense. They were here to save Tommy, they were supposed to help him out of whatever trouble he was in. They were too late. They spent so much time playing in a forest he’s been dead for days, without any of them even knowing. They failed their one job.

Was there even a point? Their leader held them together, giving out directions and thinking of plans no one even expected. He was gone and they could do nothing. They didn’t even know who did it. 

Actually.

They did.

“You said some guy named Sam did this, where is he?” Wisp demanded, voice cracking. Bitzel and Luke were despondent and he was afraid of even touching Deo. He was the second to join Business Bay, even if he made mistakes, he would make up for them.

Jack scoffed. “If you think you can talk to Sam, good luck. He’s been holed inside the prison, that huge blackstone building, since Tommy died. We tried to get him out, but he refuses to talk. Apparently he blames himself, even though Dream killed the kid. I swear, if Tommy had just shut up and-” His sentence was cut off by Deo’s fist, blood now dripping from his nose. “What the fuck is wrong with you man?”

Deo stalked around the desk and grabbed Jack’s collar. “Say he deserved it in front of me again, and I’ll do a lot more than mess up your face. Got it?”

The three weren't surprised per se, more startled at Deo's outburst. Usually, he kept the negative in check, ranging from apathetic to giddy. Very rarely furious. They could count on their hand how many times they'd seen their friend truely pissed off. Tommy claims he used to be a completely different person. It was times like these they realized it was only Tommy who knew him from the beginning. The guy could lose it at any second, they could feel the rage and anger emanating from him.

“Get out of my hotel.” Deo took that as a yes. 

Wisp held out his hand to Luke, who still hadn’t spoken a word. “Come on, we’re gonna get some revenge. I don’t care how long we have to wait outside this prison thing, someone is dying.”

“Fine, do what you want. He’s dead either way, Sam won’t help you, he’s corrupt. Have fun failing!” Jack called after them.

They gathered around the entrance of the prison. It was just as Jack had described. Giant and intimidating, a void against the colorful setting. They could tell weeks of work went into the build, and the mining fatigue weighed down on them. They were prepared to tear the entire building to the ground.

Luke called out, unsure of exactly where the entrance was. “Hello? We’re looking for Sam.”

There was no answer. He felt stupid, just yelling at nothing. For all they knew, they had to go to that quartz mansion to get in. “Is Sam here?” He tried again.

This time, a voice boomed for all sides. There was nobody, but the words echoed around the chamber. “Can I help you?”

They were shaken by how soft it sounded. It was quiet and rough, not sounding anything like what they expected. They were prepared for a rough and guarded voice of a prison warder, not whatever that was.

“Are you Sam?” Luke asked, hoping for a confirmation.

He got one. “What do you want? No one is allowed visitation at the moment.”

“We’re not looking for visitation,” Wisp yelled. “We’re looking for Tommy. You killed him, now give him to us before we destroy this place ourselves.”

Sam gave a hollow laugh. “Try, you can’t. It’s impossible, I made it that way. You can’t get Tommy’s body, it’s too much of a safety issue. When I can safely enter the cell, I will retrieve his corpse.”

“Fuck your safety issues, let us in or we’ll do it ourselves.” Bitzel threatened.

“This conversation is over.” Sam stopped responding to any of their calls after that. 

They weren’t lying about taking things into their own hands. The four began hacking at the sides of the prison, running back and forth with milk buckets to rid their bodies of the mining fatigue. There was almost no progress made in the two hours they tried, three obsideon blocks broken in total. It would take days to get inside with a two block tall hall. To make an enterance usable for fighting would take even longer.

Luke wanted to cry. “This is impossible. How the hell are we going to get into a place we can’t even mine at?”

Bitzel gasped for air. “We have to keep trying. Let’s just take a break.”

Deo gazed at the massive building. He had been in many battles throughout his life, more than he wanted. He knew when to fight and when to run, even when there were times that the lines blurred. This was a time he had to make the hard decision. They were tired, lacking in progress, and had next to no play. It was time to quit. “Everyone get up right now. Luke, make some more buckets. We’ll fill up chests closer to the wall with milk. Bitzel, breed whatever cows you can find. Wisp, we’re mining.”

The three grinned, springing into action. Wisp followed him back towards the wall. “You know this isn’t going to work, right?”

“I’ll make it work. He’s getting out of there one way or another.” Deo drank the milk, handing what was left to Bitzel. He grabbed his pickax and swung, diamond meeting obsidian for the thousandths time.