Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

The plans had been set in stone. Tomorrow, L’manburg would be no more but a bottomless pit, devoid of the life and homes which currently stood there.

Technoblade found himself nervous as he looked through his chest to find the right ingredients for his potions. He was in no way felt prepared; everything had happened so quickly. Only a couple of hours ago had he been allied with Tommy, not only this but given the teenager his trust, only for it to be taken and thrown back in his face.

He was angry. Not just him; the voices were too. But for now, he had to keep them under control ready for tomorrow.

Dream had completely disappeared to god knows where. Phil had stayed with him in his cottage tucked away in the northern, snowy plains. His retirement home. The place he had built to break free from his violent actions. It now seemed he couldn’t escape it.

He had most of the supplies for tomorrow, he could leave making the potions for then, he would need a lot of them after all. His weapons and armour were at almost perfect durability. He had given his Axe of Peace to Tommy, but now he doubted he would get it back, so he would have to do without.

He suddenly remembered something, a crucial part of his plan he couldn’t afford to fail.

The hounds. He needed them all with him to secure his chance of coming out of the battle alive.

“Phil,” Techno said as he put down what he was doing. The winged man turned around to meet his sharp red eyes and hummed in response. “We have to go back and move the hounds. Tommy knows where they are so they can’t stay there.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea mate?” Phil questioned, eyebrows furrowed. “There’s bound to be a lot of them patrolling the area still. It would be a risky move, we could get caught.”

“We don't have a choice. We need them if we’re going to win this.”

Phil shrugged, he knew there was no convincing him now that Techno had made up is mind. “If you say so.”

——

Techno stared back into the dark, ominous cave. The pure sound emitting from the area was slightly worrisome, it seemed having a pack of over 200 wolves in one relatively small cave wasn’t the best idea. Nevertheless, he grabbed the stones and quickly began stacking them to block off the entrance, and hopefully the sound too.

He sighed. Tomorrow was going to be an eventful day. For now, he just had to make sure all his items were in place and that nobody were to find out what they had in store for L’manburg and it’s people.

“Techno! Hurry up, we have to leave before anyone checks down here!” It was Phil, it seemed he’d already reached the top of the sewers.

The Blade turned to the exit when he caught sight of a dark figure in the corner of his eye. No, oh god no.

He slowly turned back to the figure, his red eyes narrowing behind his mask.

Badboyhalo stared back at him, white scleras wide and fanged mouth slightly ajar. He didn’t move, frozen in shock and maybe even fear, his forked tail had tightly curled itself around his left leg, implicating he was in fact scared. Why did it ALWAYS have to be Badboyhalo?

Techno sighed once again and took a step forward, his mouth set in a firm frown. The demon took a step back, almost in sync with him. He hadn’t said a word since he’d got here. Techno knew it wouldn’t be long until this guy would make a run for it.

“Techno??” Phil was calling him from one of the pipes above him, completely unaware that they had already been caught.

Techno’s frown deepened. “I’ll be there in a minute, Phil.”

He stalked towards Badboyhalo, who had decided he didn’t like the situation he had put himself in and had promptly turned towards the opposite direction. Techno had already predicted the demon was going to make a run for it and had broken out into a sprint.

Badboyhalo was at this point done for; it seemed he knew it too, as he quickly turned around and backed himself up into a wall. Techno was on him a second later.

“Wait Techno-“ The demon squeaked out, voice an octave higher than usual, which was saying something. He was cut off by The orphan Slayer sword being pressed sharply against his neck.

“Speak now. They’ll be your last words.” Techno stated, voice monotone. He watched as the demon shrank even more beneath him, expression morphing from conflicted into fear.

“Yo-You can’t!” Bad cried, causing Techno’s eyebrow to raise.

“And why not? I’ve done it plenty other times.”

“I’ve... I've helped you in the past! I’m part of the Badlands, we have no connection with lmanburg!” He tried to explain, wincing as the blade to his neck began increasing in pressure.

“I’m not in the mood to listen to lies, Badboyhalo. I already know you’re allying with that nation. If I let you out alive this time, you’ll tell them, which is why you’re going to die here.” Techno growled, becoming frustrated.

“If you kill me here, you’ll become an enemy of the Badlands.” Badboyhalo convinced. “Your good friends with Skeppy right? If I die, he will die too.”

The sword on the neck of the demon loosened in pressure.

“What?”

“Our souls are connected, we made a pact some time ago.” A demon thing, Techno thought to himself. “Me dying here will cause him to die after me. Please...”

Techno felt himself tense as Bad gripped onto the side of his red cloak. He was crying. “Skeppy’s going through a lot now. We’re trying to figure out a way to cure him.”

Techno was lost on what was happening. This was taking way longer than he had hoped. He was still trying to understand why he still hadn’t sliced his sword cleanly through the neck of the demon, dealing the finishing blow. But as Bad cried and gripped tighter onto the sides of his cloak, he couldn’t find it in him to do so. The voices had all gone silent.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen to him Techno! I wish I did, he's not the same as he was. He talks with no emotion, kinda like you, and I never know how he’s feeling.” Bad was looking up at him, eyes shining and desperate. “But please, please don’t kill my best friend. He... He can’t die yet.”

Techno blinked. It seemed Badboyhalo had finished with his monologue and that left him the decision of the next move. Letting him go was not an option. He would not allow weeks of preparation go to waste because of a single guy exposing his plans. Killing him at this point in time seemed...wrong.

Techno wanted to slap himself. Wrong? Since when did he ever care if something was morally wrong or not? But this time, it seemed different. There must be another way around this.

The pink-haired hybrid lowered his sword to his side, glaring down at the person who was causing him so much trouble.

“I won’t kill you,” Techno said with some hesitation. “But, I’m not going to let you go.”

Bads grateful eyes twisted in confusion. “Wait-“

“No.” Technoblade immediately cut him off. “ I need you to come with me.” He slides his sword back into its sheave then grabbed onto the brown leather strap that hooked over the demon's shoulders. The sword which used to be attached to his back was no longer there, a rule of the festival. Techno assumed he was completely unarmed.

He then tugged on the strap getting Badboyhalo to follow him. Maybe he used too much force or the demon was too light on his feet, but he tripped from the force, crashed into the Blood God’s back. Techno’s hand flew straight to the handle of his sword, but Bad had seemed to quickly recover.

“Wait! Where are we going?!” He exclaimed, his eyes wide and frantic, black hair dishevelled.

“Away from L’manburg, away from the Badlands and your friend,” Techno spoke up. “We’re heading north.”

Techno sighed for the third time in the last 10 minutes. It was not going to be fun explaining this to Phil.

——

Chapter Text

This wasn’t how Technoblade wanted things to go. Nowhere in his plan did it say to acquire a hostage while moving his dogs to a separate cave.

He turned his head slightly to make sure the demon was still following him. He was, with that weird confused expression printed on his face. Techno growled to himself as he turned back to look where he was going. He didn’t understand what was stopping him from killing the guy right now to avoid any problems in the future. But something in him wasn’t allowing it, maybe that was why the voices had all gone quiet.

Well, this was the next least problematic option. He would keep Badboyhalo in his house while he went off to war, to prevent his secret from being exposed too early. He’d have Phil watch over him while he was off fighting, to make sure the demon didn’t run off to join in with the battle against him. He knew Bad owned some strong items, and even though he wasn’t the best fighter, the smaller number of people he was up against the better.

And after the war was won? He would get the demon to tell him all the secrets of L’manburg in exchange for keeping him alive, then escort him back to where he found him. Then this could all be over.

After climbing out of the sewers, with Badboyhalo close behind him, he could see Phil in the distance, back rested on the nether portal. His eyes met with Techno’s as he approached, offering a kind smile which immediately evaporated once he noticed the blood god wasn’t alone.

“Erm.. mate?” He hesitated, unsure if Technoblade was even aware that he was being followed.

Techno couldn't help but roll his eyes, still extremely irritated at himself for not being more careful, for not bringing more invis potions.

“I know.” He commented, looking behind to meet the glowing eyes of the black-haired demon. “He saw me while I was covering up the wall to the hounds. We’re going to have to bring him with us temporarily so he doesn’t expose their location to the others.”

“Uh Huh...” Phil hummed, unconvinced. “You’re Badboyhalo right?”

He nodded, suddenly looking more nervous than before. “What’s.. going to happen to me now?”

Phil's expression changed to one of sympathy, Techno couldn’t understand how someone could react like that so quickly. Either way, he had had enough of this. They were wasting too much time.

“Just get in the portal,” Techno demanded, voice rough and he once again, gripped onto Bad’s leather strap and tugged, less harsh than he had done before.

The demon didn’t complain this time and hesitated as he entered the glowing purple abyss, turning back to Techno with an uncertain look as he disappeared.

The pig hybrid was quick to follow and didn’t stop him from catching sight of the odd look on Phil's face who had gone behind him. Techno decided he would ignore it for now, but he would have to expect the older man having a chat with him later.

Once through the portal, he was hit with a strong rush of heat through his mask. The air was smoky and arid, if it weren't for the sheer amount of time he had spent in there in the past and his piglin genes, he wouldn't be able to properly breathe in it for long.

Bad was standing atop one of the black stone paths watching him, completely unphased by the sheer intensity of the heat around him. Techno was honestly surprised he hadn’t made a run for it yet.

Phil entered a couple of seconds later, appearing with a puff of purple particles. The man winced as he walked towards the two, clearly the most affected from the heat compared to them. Techno gave him a short nod before turning his head towards the demon.

“Turn around.” He ordered abruptly.

“Technoblade-” Badboyhalo was beginning to sound sceptical. His reluctance to go any further clear on his face. “When I said don't kill me, I didn't mean take me with you... I need to stay with Skeppy to make sure he-”

“Too bad.” The blood God interrupted emotionless, but still very aware Phil was watching them both. “Turn around.”

The demon grimaced, then hesitantly turned his back to him. Techno, always on high alert, was well aware that Bad was stressed. Shoulders tensed up, breathing high, tail twisted around his leg, hands gripping tightly to the fabric of his trousers.

But Techno was not the type to reassure him. He put one hand to his mask, using the other to untie the twine he had fastened around his head. The mask came loose and he pulled it off, revealing his face.

“Techno?” Phil was very clearly confused at this point. He knew the pig well, he hated showing his face to others apart from him. Most people had no idea what he even looked like.

“Its fine Phil. I just need to make sure he can't see the path to the base. He already knows enough.” With that, he turned to the back of Badboyhalo, who currently had no idea what was going on, and reached his mask over the shorter one’s face. The demon flinched as the mask came into view for him, but he didn't utter a word and Techno placed it on his face, making sure it wasn't on properly so his eyes didn't meet the mask’s eye holes. He tied the twine, securing it around his face. He then grabbed the demon’s shoulders to turn him around to face Philza.

“Is it on right Phil?” Techno asked. He wanted to make sure he would be able to see anything before he checked himself, he wasn't planning on revealing his face today after all.

“If you intended to make it so he couldn't see anything, then yes.” Phil looked as though he was about to laugh. Techno turned Bad around to get a look for himself.

For some reason, he found it oddly surreal seeing someone else wearing his mask, even if it wasn't on properly. “Can you see anything?” He asked to move his mind from the subject, hands still placed on either shoulder of the demon.

“No... So are we going to your base?” He murmured. Techno honestly found it a little odd may quiet the demon was being. Every time they had talked previously, he was used to him being talkative, usually arguing with Skeppy, or yelling when someone swore.

“Fuck.” He said.

There was an immediate reaction from Bad, his head quickly shot upwards to the sound of Technoblade’s voice, mouth wide in shock.

“LANGUAGE!” He screeched so loudly that it made the pig regret swearing at all. “Why would you say that?!?”

Phil was laughing in the background. “I was just testing something.”

“What?”

“It doesn't matter.” The Blade started. “Anyways, to answer your question; yes. You'll be staying at my base for a couple of days. After that, I'll take you back to the ruins of L’manburg and we can forget this ever happened.

Bad doubted that. He felt the other's hands remove themselves from his shoulders when one of them gripped tightly onto his leather strap and began leading him in a random direction.

“Phil, do you think you could go in front to clear the path of mobs?” He heard Technoblade ask.

“Sure thing, mate.”

They began walking, Bad being towed through the barren landscape of the nether, trying not to trip.

“Are you serious about it?” He then decided to say.

“Hm?”

“About bombing L’manburg. Do you hate governments that much?” The demon confessed.

“Oh, ” He was surprised to hear Techno chuckle slightly. “Dream and I have every intention in turning that place into a chunk error. It will never be the same.”

Bad sighed to himself. It looked as though the Badlands weren't going to have a piece of the action this time. He wanted his companions to know where he was right now, he was sure they were going to become worried. Well, everyone apart from Skeppy, he wouldn't know any different...

“You're the leader of the Badlands, right Badboyhalo?” Phil turned around after knocking a blaze from the bridge into the fire below.

“Ah..” Bad thought carefully about this one, he didn't want to become more of a target than he already was. If it couldn't get any worse for him anyways. He was blindfolded and be in dragged along by someone he couldn't call an ally. “Not really. We of the Badlands own it together. It's a democracy.”

Technoblade snorted at this. “Good luck with that.”

Bad found himself confused. “What?”

“You know that's impossible right? There will always be someone who wants more power.” He continued dragging the demon along until he came to a stop.

“That's not true though! I trust my friends in the Badlands. I know they would never betray me like that.” Bad tried to convince until he could feel Techno’s unmasked eyes boring into him, even though he wasn't able to see it. He could feel the intensity radiating off the Blood God in front of him.

“Trust huh.” Techno paused. He didn't say anything after that. Bad became worried he’d managed to hurt his feelings after what he had witnessed inside the destroyed community house.

Before Bad could utter another word, Philza stepped in between them. “We’ve reached the portal.”

Bad blinked. “Does that mean I can take this off my face now?”

“No,” Techno replied quickly. “You’re not taking it off until we reach my base.”

The demon slowly nodded as he felt someone guide him into the portal, the air pressure warping around his skin as he felt himself being transported back to the overworld.

Chapter Text

The icy gusts of arctic winds hit the exposed skin of the demon as he reached the overworld, idly stepping out the portal into God knows what.

The ground crunched beneath his laced boots as he felt them sink down to touch the ground. Snow, it was deep too. That would explain the freezing temperatures.

Bad let out a violent shiver, his skin prickling up into goosebumps as he felt his tail squeeze tighter around himself, trying to find some form of warmth. He wasn't used to cold temperatures, mostly because he tended to avoid them due to getting cold all too easily.

Suddenly, he heard a warping sound from the portal to his left, and them the crunching of footsteps and a general conversation between Technoblade and Philza. Something about a dog house that he couldn't quite understand. It didn't matter though, since it wasn't long until he felt someone grip back onto his leather strap and start to pull him in the direction of the base.

“Man it's getting even colder here!” Phil huffed and a sound of shuffling could be heard.

“Yeah, it's almost winter now. There's not as many hours of daylight anymore.” Techno pointed out from in front of him.

“Is Carl going to be okay in this weather?”

“We moved him, remember?” Techno replied. “Anyways, our real problem here is where we’re going to put this guy.”

Bad tensed. Honestly he should feel grateful he was even alive right now, he was still surprised that the blood God had spared him. But at the same time, he knew he wouldn’t be able to cope well if they decided to leave him out here. Especially during the night.

“Hmm that's true.” Phil murmured. “Techno, are you sure you want to keep him here? I could just take him back to L’Manburg and watch over him when I get home.”

“I’m not going to risk it.” Techno retorted immediately. “It won't be for long anyway.”

Bad felt himself being guided through the snow, the hand on his strap significantly warmer than the rest of him right now. He could hear Phil fending off the mobs that approached them, the sound of rattling bones and creeper hisses eerily ominous when he couldn't see a thing. He felt jumpy with a slowly dawning feeling of dread in his gut as he pondered what was going to happen to him now.

After 10 minutes of walking, the demon noticed light through the mask on his face, when it was suddenly torn off him. He winced from the sudden intrusion of the brightness to his eyeballs. When he opened them again, his gaze met with a small, appealing cottage. It's roof was covered in a thick layer of snow and it had a small stable attached to it's front. Bad blinked in surprise.

“This... Is your base?” He turned back to Technoblade, who had planted his mask back onto his face and was busy tieing it.

“What we're you expecting, a castle?” Techno inquired monotonously.

“No, I just...” He never finished his sentence, in reality even he didn't know what he expected, it just wasn't this.

Techno shrugged and followed Phil down the steps which led to the double doors that were slightly imbedded in the ground. Bad hesitated before slowly stepping after them.

He entered into a relatively small room where both the walls and floor were made from stone. It was like some sort of basement, one of the walls contained chests that we're stacked on top of each other, presumably filled up with random items. The was a random boat placed on the ground, Bad couldn't understand what its purpose was. Not only this, but a couple posters had been pinned to the walls. Bad could tell they had been made for Techno by talented artists.

“Nice place.” Bad commented. Techno turned around briefly.

“Yeah, this isn’t where you’ll be staying though.” Upon hearing those words, it left the demon filled with dread. Staying outside in the frosty, arctic weather was the last thing he wanted.

“Phil, could you take him to the bottom floor? I would but I need to prepare. I’m already more behind than I thought I’d be.”

“It’s ok mate, I can make the potions while you deal with it.” Phil replied, probably unsure what he would do with the demon once on the bottom floor. Techno just shrugged. “Which potions do you need?”

“Swiftness, Invisibility, that sort of thing.” He said before descending down the ladder, gesturing for Bad to follow. Bad did, but reluctantly. At least this meant he wouldn’t be spending his time outside.

The room he climbed into was much less decorated than the one before. The first thing his eyes caught sight on were the two mobs either side of him. One was a skeleton while the other was a piglin. The thing that surprised him most were the lit pumpkins on their heads, covering their faces.

“Woahhh, they look so cool!” The demon gushed, approaching up to the glass that contained the special Halloween mobs. “Ive never seen ones like this before..”

Technoblade turned around to gaze at the demon who had placed his dark clawed hands on the glass. He wondered if those were just gloves or actually part of his hands. Either way, they looked dangerous.

“The Piglin is Hubert while the skeleton is Moon.” He said nonchalantly.

“I like their names, how did you come up with them?” Bad had torn his eyes away from the glass to meet Technos, his eyes shining.

Techno paused before looking away completely. “It doesn’t matter.”

He headed down the ladder the last floor, a floor he hadn't visited for a while now. The place itself held a magnitude of memories; it's the place he found Tommy hiding in his base after all. It was here they made the agreement to work as allies. It was here a pact of mutual respect and trust was created, just to be shattered into pieces later.

Badboyhalo was looking around the room behind him, expression curious. “Is this the basement?”

“Pretty much.” Techno stated as he walked toward the end of the room eying the stripped log that had been placed in the corner. “You’ll be staying here for now.”

The demon slowly nodded as he watched Technoblade break the log with an axe, not bothering to pick it up again. When he was finished, the blood God turned his attention back him.

“I need to go prepare for tomorrow. Either I’ll come back to check up on you tomorrow morning or Phil will. When I’m gone, Phil will be staying here to watch over you.” He paused, eyes grazing over the demons clawed hands and up towards the sharp points appendages on his head. “I don’t want you leaving this room during your stay here. I’m not one for second chances, remember that if you start thinking about leaving here.”

Techno watched as the demon’s face paled slightly as he nodded anyways.

“What items do you have on you right now, I can’t imagine much.”

Badboyhalo winced; whatever he had on him, he probably wanted to keep hold of it, which only made Techno more suspicious.

“Drop it.”

“Ok.” The demon squeaked shoving his hands into his pockets to empty them. He then proceeded to drop various items on the floor; some seeds, arrows, cooked chicken (honestly at this point, Techno wasn't surprised) and finally a scroll. This particular item piqued his interest as he bent down to pick it up.

“D-don't look at that!” Badboyhalo shrieked causing Techno to continue to pick it up with narrowed eyes. A suspicious reaction too. This scroll might contain secret details if he was lucky, government plans even.

Techno opened the scroll, hopes high as he glanced at Badboyhalo who only looked at him in horror, but making no move to stop him, most likely out of fear. Techno’s eyes glanced at the scroll for a second before immediately closing it back up. It hadn't been what he’d expected, only much, much worse. He knew Badboyhalo was an odd guy, but this exceeded his expectations.

He put the scroll back onto the floor, eyes meeting with the demons face that was completely flushed.

“I won't ask.” The blood God deadpanned as he picked up the arrows. “Keep the rest of it, ” he glanced at the scroll. “I don't want it in my possession.”

With that, he climbed back up the ladder without another word, leaving the embarrassed demon alone in the basement.

Chapter Text

Badboyhalo was bored. He had settled himself down on the bed after thoroughly searching the room for something to do. Sadly, he had found nothing. He could hear villagers somewhere near him, but he couldn’t seem to find where they were. And he was too terrified to try and explore outside his room yet.

He could hear Techno and Phil upstairs, both of them seemed to be having a good time. He was surprised to hear Techno laugh. He can’t recall the last time he had heard that from the blood god. He seemed to find it hard to open up to anyone, but with Philza; they really seemed to be good friends.

The demon wondered if that’s what it was. In some ways, Phil almost acted as a paternal figure to Techno. He could see it, even when he first saw the winged man standing next to the portal. The worry in his eyes didn’t seem to be concern for a friend, more like concern for a son.

Bad laid down as he listened to their muffled conversations. He didn’t feel bad doing so, he had nothing better to do. They chatted for a long while about random things. Sometimes, their conversation would steer into more personal topics, such as Tommy’s betrayal. Techno had remained stoic about it, bottling up how he really felt most likely. Badboyhalo couldn’t blame him for that. Opening up about feelings is hard, especially when Badboyhalo believed Techno really did care for the younger boy. He could see when he had watched them argue at the destroyed community house.

Bad found himself slipping away from reality, eyes closing at the soft background noise of preparations for tomorrow. The day had been an eventful one. Things weren't going to get back to normal now, even once he returns to the Badlands.

He wanted to see Skeppy again.

<~~~~~>

Bad awoke to silence. The torches in his room had almost burned through, causing his room to be low lit and ominous. He almost had forgotten where he was at that moment. It was clear he wasn't in the safe company of his and Skeppy’s mansion, even if he was the only one living in it at the moment.

He sighed as he sat up. Techno and Phil must have gone to sleep. Was now a good time to risk looking around? He knew trying to escape was pointless. He had no idea where he was or how to get back. Not only this, but the dark was dangerous. The lack of light allowed hostile mobs to roam freely across the terrain, making it a death trap for someone without any armour or weapons.

He got up. Had Phil gone back to L’Manburg? He supposed he couldn't, as the residents there knew he was on Techno’s side and would most likely try and use him as some sort of leverage. It would be much safer for him to stick around here.

<~~~~>

Techno laid awake in his velvet sheets. His mind was too crowded for sleep. It was racing to figure out new strategies for tomorrow. This was the only time he could think after all, as all this had happened so quickly and at such short notice.

He shifted onto his side, hands gripping onto his pillow as he tried to think about anything he could do. Somehow he would need to fend off the entirety of L’Manburg as Dream set up the TNT, and while doing this he would also have to spawn all the withers. It was a difficult task to accomplish alone.

He got up, even when his muscles ached at him to lay back down. But he knew he couldn't, he knew he would need to do more to win this battle. He climbed down the ladder from his bedroom and got to work.

<---->

Morning came all to soon.

Phil entered the main room to see an all too tired Techno, slaving away at a brewing stand.

“Mate, how long have you been awake?!” Phil gasped when he saw the dark, sleepy bags under the blood gods red eyes.

Techno peered over at him, eyes wincing. “Too long. I had some stuff I needed to finish.”

The winged man sighed, walking up to Technoblade, putting a hand on his shoulder. “You should sleep. We have some time left before we need to leave. Just tell me what to do for you.”

Techno looked away. “Are... You sure?”

Phil nodded offering him a kind smile before helping him up the ladder to his bed. Techno was all to tired to argue as the winged man tucked him in like a child. Within half a minute, he was asleep.

That was when Phil came to a realisation. “He didn't tell me what he wanted done... Shit.”

Phil would have to improvise. He had a vast amount of experience when it came to brewing and weaponry after all. He should be ok.

It wasn't long until Dream arrived carrying stacks of TNT. He was ready for war.

Phil had to explain to him about Techno and how he was sleeping at that moment, that they shouldn't wake him up just yet.

“Wait, Technoblade’s asleep? We’re at war!” Dream exclaimed sounding partly angry while still seeming somewhat amused.

“I know. It's just he must have been awake all night. He’s going to need as much rest as he can get for later today.

Dream nodded slowly before looking around. “So is everything set? Are the withers all ready?”

“Yep. Everythings in place.” The winged man agreed. “Although we ran into a bit of a problem when it came to the hounds. It's all sorted now though.”

The masked man turned around abruptly. “A problem?”

“Erm..” Phil thought for a second about what he should say. “One of the DreamSMP members caught Techno as he was closing the cave to them.”

“Did Techno eliminate them?”

“Well... No.” Phil said causing Dream to raise his eyebrows in suprise. “In fact, I still don't know why he didn’t.”

“Wait,” Dream stopped. “Who was it who saw?”

“Badboyhalo” Phil stated.

“Weird...” Dream drifted off for a moment. “The only connection they have to each other is through Skeppy.”

This left Dream curious as he thought for a moment. Could the Blood God be losing his touch?

“So he’s staying here during the war so he doesn’t spoil anything to L’manburg. I guess it’s also one less person to fight.” Phil commented as he bottled up a potion and stored it away ready for Techno.

“He’s here?”

The winged man turned back around. “Yeah, in the basement.”

Dream was quick to investigate. He’d visited Techno’s home multiple times in the past, it wasn't hard for him to find his way down to the basement where Badboyhalo was staying.

The demon was lying on his back on a bed with a bored expression on his face. However his face quickly morphed into one of shock as his eyes caught with Dream’s smiley mask peering down at him.

“Dream!” Bad reached up to envelope Dream into a warming hug. The taller hesitantly hugged back, surprised by the happy reaction of the other. But it was short lived as the demon suddenly pulled away, looking back in concern.

“What are you doing here..?” He asked, getting off the bed to stand.

“Did you forget?” Dream asked, looking back at the demon curiously. “I’m meeting up with Techno so we can leave to L’Manburg.”

This caused Bad’s frown to deepen as he stared back up at him. “Dream... Why are you doing this? I don't understand... I know Techno wants to destroy L’Manburg because it's a government, but why are you helping him?”

“I have my reasons.” He answered, mysterious as ever. “You could say Techno and I have... Similar goals.”

That left Bad even more confused.

“Anyways, what connection do you have with him?” the mask man challenged.

“What?”

“Im talking about Technoblade.” Dream immediately stated, impatient. “I want to know what stopped him from killing you.”

“Dream-” Bad sounded undoubtedly hurt. “I don't know what you're talking about...”

Dreams patience was dwindling.

“Oh come on, Bad!” The demon flinched, taken aback. “We both know there's something you’re not telling me. Why are you still alive? Why didn't he kill you?”

Dream had grabbed Bad roughly by the fabric on his hood, pulling him forward, hoping that it would extract the answer he needed.

It had an opposite effect however, as he noticed the demon completely freeze up in fear, white eyes wide and tail beginning to curl itself around his leg.

“Wh-” Dream started only to get cut off.

“Dream.” The masked man paused at hearing the familiar, deep voice to the person he as going to war with.

He turned around to meet mask to mask with Technoblade, staring back at him, clear confusion evident in his posture, as well as the half of his face that was shown.

Dream grinned.

Chapter Text

“Ah, Techno!” Dream immediately let go of Bads shoulder, lightly pulling him away to create some distance. “Just the person I wanted to see.”

“We need to talk.” The Blood God started, voice devoid of any sort of emotion as he stepped to the side, giving Dream room to exit up the ladder.

“Sure.” Dream replied. “Today’s going to be the start of a new age, after all.” He turned back to Bad for the last time. “See you later, Bad.” Before passing Techno, making his way up the ladder and exiting through the trap door.

Bad didn't say a word as he left, still surprised at the outburst from someone he had considered his friend. His frightened glance landed on Techno who was looking at him in silence.

Neither of them said a word. Even though Technoblade didn't have the words to talk to the demon at that moment, he was able to read his body language. He looked threatened, similar to how he had looked back when Techno had first caught him.

It didn't bother the pig much though. Why would it? At this moment in time, Dream was his ally in fighting a war, while Badboyhalo was a hostage who risked revealing his plans to the other side.

So he turned around and climbed up the ladder, leaving the demon to stand there in silence with his tail between his legs.

Dream was waiting for him back in the main room with Phil, who was in the middle of stashing away a multitude of potions into a chest.

“Did you have a good nap?” Dream asked sarcastically causing Techno to snort at him. He didn't mention how he was still exhausted.

“Anyways, ” Techno started. “We haven't yet discussed plans for today. It's cutting it a bit late Dream.”

The man in the green hoodie laughed. “Its going to be fine. I've already set up the foundations of the TNT generators, all I need to do is put down the TNT to finish setting it up. That's where you come in; I need you to keep them distracted and buy me some time while I finish setting it up.”

“...How much time do you need?”

“Hmm..” He thought for a moment. “Probably around 20 minutes.”

“20 minutes? Are you serious Dream?!” Phil had got back onto his feet and was now staring the masked man down in shock.

“I have to say, that's asking a lot from me, Dream.” Techno mentioned. Dream only found it amusing.

“You’re the mighty Blade, aren't you? It's not like you’ll be fighting them alone, Philza will be there too.”

“He isn't coming with us.” Techno glared.

“Really?” Dream paused. “Because it sounded to me like he was going to help us.”

The Blood God immediately turned to meet face to face with the winged man.

“Mate, I want to help you.” Phil pleaded, knowing Techno was going to be stubborn in accepting it.

“No, you’re staying here.” Techno remained adamant.

“Are you sure about that Techno?” Dream narrowed his eyes behind the mask. “1v20 arent very good odds on you.”

Techno held back a growl. “I have the hounds.”

The masked man shrugged back at him, but Phil wasn't going to give up.

“Im coming with you Techno. Your not going to stop me from coming with you.” Phil urged him, eyes shining in desperation. “I made enough potions for the both of us. Together, we’ll be able to win.”

“Phil, you’re the only person I have left.” Techno sounded uncharacteristically distraught, it was something that caught Dream’s attention.

“And I'm not going anywhere.” the winged man assured. “Mate, I don't want to loose another s- friend. Doing this together is the best chance we have here.”

Techno stared at him. Phil was full of hope for what was to come, he found it hard to just dismiss it.

“Okay..” He sighed. “I know I won't be able to change your mind.”

Philza grinned and from the sidelines, so did Dream.

“But, ” Technoblade’s hand reached to open up his enderchest and pulled out a rare, shining item. “I need you to take my totem with you. This isn't going to be easy, I need you to use it when things get tough.”

“Are you sure?” Phil hesitated. “Isnt this your last one?”

Techno nodded. “Take it.”

Dream, feeling slightly out of place, decided to speak up to break the tension. “This is going to be like independence day! After this, nothing is going to be the same.”

It didn't help the nervousness roaring in Techno’s insides. The recent revelation that Phil, the only one he could really trust, was going to come with him into the battle ground.

“Ok, ” Techno breathed. “Lets talk about the plan.”

<----->

Dream had climbed up onto the obsidian structure that hovered over L’Manburg. He had uttered a quick farewell and good luck before completely disappearing. It had left Techno alone with Phil.

The terrain was eerily silent. They had arrived early to gain the advantage and maybe give dream some more time to set up.

Techno had all his weapons ready for war. He had given Phil the wither skulls and soul sand in hope to help diverge him from the main battle scene to spawn down the withers instead. Phil had agreed which had helped to ease him slightly from his nerves.

But this was it. Very soon, they would be fighting for what they believe in as well as their own lives.

The voices were roaring loudly in his head, there were so many of them he could hardly distinguish any full words. But the ones he did understand were the words of violence and blood.

They had arrived ready and they weren’t prepared to lose.

Chapter Text

Stormy blasts hit the blood God’s scarred face through his cracked mask as he emerged from the nether. His surroundings were dark, only slightly illuminated by the violet glow of the portal.

He tripped into the snow, falling with a heavy thud into the icy, unforgiving ground. The impact did nothing to him though, as he lay there for a moment, having no energy inside of him to move another inch.

Everything was gone. Any sort of hope or joy in him had been shattered to smithereens, replaced with a cold, empty feeling that settled painfully in his stomach.

His body screamed at him as he stood back onto his feet to limp back home. He had been bruised all over, his armor mostly in pieces. He had lived up to his reputation; blood had soaked his clothing, most of which not his own. As he trudged on, his torn cloak dragged on the ground, leaving bloody stains on the snow.

He was followed by a few of the surviving hounds, most of which looked as beaten up as he did. The dark crimson contrasting with there snowy white pelts and coating their deadly jaws. He would have to find time to heal them up later, but right now, he just needed to get back so he could-

So he could what? There was nothing he could do, nothing he could change. Techno didn’t know what he could do, now that he was alone.

One of the hounds let out a pained whine interrupting him from his thoughts. The wolf, maybe in the worst shape of them all, had collapsed into the snow, emitting low, guttural growls.

Techno felt a flash of anger surge through his body before it dissipated for no clear reason. He stomped over to scoop up the animal, tucking it under his arm before continuing. He didn’t have the energy to help it, but he had seen enough death for today.

The journey back to his home was slow, painful. His mind had gone blank, he wasn’t able to think about anything at that moment. What had happened earlier today had been tucked into the darkest depths of his mind, and once it were to resurface, it wasn’t going to be pretty.

He felt no sense of relief once he saw the warm glow of his torches in the far distance. His face and hands stung from the forceful frostbite of the wind, but it wasn’t half as bad as the pain he felt deep inside. He may have won the war, but it had come at a price he had never been willing to pay.

He had gotten close enough to his home to notice the dark silhouette standing by the window. It presumably had seen him, as he saw the shadow disappear in an instant.

No doubt, it had been Badboyhalo, probably confused at why he had been left in the house alone. Frankly, Technoblade had completely forgotten he even existed. But the fact he was still in the house somehow made the situation even worse for him. He just wanted to be alone.

Suddenly, the side doors of the house burst open to reveal the hooded demon who had rushed out from them.

“Techno!” He called out in a hurry. “I-“

He stopped when he saw the sight before him. The blood god was glaring at him, his attire falling apart. He had thought an entire army practically all alone, and this was clear. Fresh blood was still dripping onto the snow from his sword. A nasty gash ran across his shoulder, tearing off part of his cloak. Part of his mask had been cracked, to reveal a crimson, scarred eye. Badboyhalo found the soullessness of his gaze the most unnerving part of it all.

He tore his eyes down to the dying wolf under Techno’s arm before reluctantly looking back up to make eye contact once more.

“Are you... okay?” He asked, sincere yet unsure of how to handle the situation.

Techno’s eye remained on him for a moment. To Bad, didn’t even look as though he was listening. Maybe he had lost too much blood? Could he even hear him?

Then, he began limping towards the door of his base, apparently having ignored the demon entirely. Badboyhalo wanted to stop him from moving anymore or at least help him, but his feet felt frozen into the snow. Deep down, his gut was telling him that he needed to leave the other alone.

The blood god stopped for a moment as he past the demon, before turning around and shoving the injured wolf into his chest. Bad flinched in surprise as the wolf squirmed in his arms before settling down, too tired to move.

“Regen potions are in the chests in the basement.” Technoblade uttered, voice empty and colder than the snowy gale that was blowing at them.

Bad was confused, but didn’t ask anymore questions as the taller turned back around and trudged into his home.

He waited a moment before following after, turning his attention to the wolf in his arms. It looked as though someone had slashed it across the stomach. He would have to hurry to get it healed.

The demon turned around behind him to see the other wolves that had followed Technoblade home. Each of them were injured in some way, but not nearly as bad as the one in his arms. What had surprised him most was the fact Techno had trudged all the way here alone. Surely either Philza or Dream would have helped him back since he was in such a state.

Unless...

He shook his head. He would have to ask Techno later about it when he had some rest.

He carried the wolf into the house and laid it on the blue carpet next to the chests and brewing stands. The other wolves filtered in behind him. There were about 8 of them still alive, a drastic difference from the amount he had seen in the cave before the war.

Looking through the chests, he managed to pull a few regeneration potions that were left and a stack of bandages. The regeneration potions are able to significantly speed up healing however the wounds will still need to be cleaned and covered to avoid any infection.

Bad wondered for a moment where Technoblade had gone. He had most likely gone to his room on the top floor. He had managed to find his way around the whole place while he was home alone. He had overheard the conversation between Techno and Phil that they would both be going to war together, so that left the demon in the house alone, with plenty of time to snoop around.

He had first found where the villagers were. Techno sure owned a lot of them. Each one had a different specialty for what it sold, some even had names. He had time to look through all the chests in the main room, but nothing really stood out to him. Same for when he went to the top floor which happened to be the Blade’s room. Nothing stood out, it was all so normal for a wanted criminal.

He had finished cleaning the most serious wounds he could find on the wolves with a water source he had found meant for potions and began applying the regeneration potions. He didn’t have enough for all of them, but he knew he could use the cooked chicken he had on him to heal the more minor injuries.

He had gained lots of experience in medical treatment over the last few years, after meeting Skeppy. The diamond man would always get himself into all sorts of problems, always getting hurt.

Bad sighed sadly. He would always get so worried for his friend, but every time he would be hurt, Bad would be there to treat him and make sure he got better. That is... until recently.

“Are you feeling a little better now?” He tentatively asked the wolf he had just finished bandaging up, in an attempt to take his mind off things. The wolf stared at him, glossy brown eyes confused. The demon smiled at it, before moving on to the next animal.

Suddenly, there was a loud explosion from underneath him. The whole house shook from the impact causing the wolves to begin barking in surprise.

Bad looked around in horror, shocked at what had just happened. Either way, he got shakily to his feet to investigate.

“T-Techno-“ He rushed up the ladder to get the attention of the Blade who was in his room. However, upon reaching the top of the ladder, he realised the room was completely empty. Technoblade hadn’t even been in here since he got back,

“W-wait..” His voice was trembling as he climbed back to the main floor, his shocked brain having trouble connecting the dots. “That means-”

Technoblade had been on the floor of the explosion.

Chapter Text

Badboyhalo rushed down the ladder to the floor Techno was on. The lower he got, the more dusty and mangled the house had become.

Finally, he got to the ladder to the room he had slept in and was about to climb down when he realised the ladder had completely disintegrated. His eyes drifted down through the trap door to the large crater which had previously been the bottom floor of the house.

Through the dust and wreckage, he was able to spot Technoblade, seemingly conscious, kneeling on the ground with both of his hands gripped onto the handle of his sword. The blood God had his back to the demon, but he was surprised to see he didn't look much more hurt than he looked when he had arrived.

There was no easy way to get down. He had no water bucket, and he didn't want to jump as he knew he would take bad fall damage without his armour.

He rushed upstairs instead to grab some blocks and ladders, before making his way back down to Techno.

The crater was large in scale and looked somewhat intentional. The dust in the room still hadn't settled, any normal person would be choking due to the particles in the air, but Bad and Techno weren't normal.

Bad stood a few safe meters away from the blood God, suddenly feeling bad for interrupting whatever Techno was doing.

The demon wasn't used to seeing the Blade like this. Even though he didn't get to see Techno very often, when he did; the man had always remained well guarded and alert when it came to his surroundings. When he fought, he battled fiercely and mercilessly. He seemed always to be so driven by his goals. Even if they weren't morally right, it was almost admirable.

But at this moment, Technblade looked like a king who had been exiled from his own country. His powerful demeanour had changed into something more vulnerable Bad hadn't seen in him before. And he couldn't help but feel concerned f-

“What are you doing.” His thoughts were interrupted by Techno, his voice sounding hoarse and off.

“I...” Bad thought carefully about what to say. “I wanted to check on you. I heard the explosion, I was worried that something bad had happened.”

The blood God never once turned to meet his gaze.

“You can leave now, you know.” His voice was nothing more than a whisper, Bad had a hard time picking it up.

“What?”

“You can leave. Go back to L’Manburg or the Badlands or something. There's no point staying now that the war is over. Go home.”

Bad stared on, feeling very conflicted. He needed to do what he thought was right.

“I don't want to leave yet.”

This caused Techno to turn his head slightly to where Bad was standing. “I forced you here. Now I'm giving you permission to leave. Why bother staying?”

Bad gulped, all the same he took a single step closer. “You’re... Not okay right now. I can help. I know first aid, I’ll be able to treat that wou-“

“I’m fine helping myself.” Techno growled as he turned around to face the demon, the one red eye visible shining even with the minimal light in the crater.

Bad’s white eyes softened when his eyes met with the wet stain that had traced its way down the Blood God’s scarred cheek.

“No, let me help you.” His voice, although calm, remained firm. Now that he could clearly see the state the other was in, there was no way he was going to back down.

“You really want to stay, Badboyhalo?” Technoblade prowled, inching towards the demon, his netherite sword set in his hand. The edge and sarcasm in his voice causing the smaller to move backwards with unease.

However, the Blade continued to approach the demon, uncaring of the fact his firmness had disappeared and been replaced by fear and anxiety. If anything, it only spur him on.

Finally, he stopped a foot away from the other and stared down at Badboyhalo, examining his expression. Bad tensed at the sudden attention, his brain urging him to break the eye contact with the predator before him. But his heart told him not to, and Bad was the type of person to listen to his heart over his head.

Suddenly, Technoblade dropped his sword, causing a clatter to echo through the crater’s walls.

“Fine, do what you want .” He sighed tiredly, the energy quickly draining from his body.

The demons face morphed into a look of surprise. “Wait, really? It looked as though you were about to force me to leave or something..”

Techno shrugged too tired for words. His hand reached for the ladder, then gripped it tightly as he looked up at the light shining down through the trapdoor.

All his energy was just about gone, he couldn’t see himself being able to get up there anytime soon. But that didn’t stop him from trying. Putting his right foot on the second to lowest ladder bar, he tried pulling himself upwards.

But his arms were completely exhausted from the war, from the amount of people he had critically injured with the blade of his sword. He turned around to the demon, who’s concern was shining in his glowing eyes. He never noticed that they could glow like that.

“I’m gonna stay down here for a bit.” He grumbled as he trudged a step away from the ladder, realising his legs felt like jelly and were barely supporting his own weight. It seemed he had underestimated how tired his body was, as he felt his knees suddenly buckle and his head slam down onto the stone ground. Techno could no longer feel any pain in his body, all he could feel was the cloudiness of his head and the ringing in his ears, before his vision entirely faded out.

<->

Badboyhalo gaped as the Blood God tripped on his own feet and crashed onto the floor, a thump echoing it's way down the caved walls.

It took him a second to realised what just happened before he scrambled to the Blade’s side, cringing at the small pool of blood that was forming under his forehead, his mask cracked into two.

This was bad. Technoblade had already lost enough blood when he arrived to be in terrible condition, and this new injury was going to make things much worse. He need to act fast.

Bad rushed up the ladder. Trying to carry Techno up the ladder was never going to work. Even though he would boast about his physical strength from time to time, the other was almost a foot taller than him. He would need to make things work for him down in the crater instead.

Rummaging through the chests he managed to pull out some wood and wool. He had a feeling it would do, so he turned around to the place he had treated the wolves. They seemed completely fine, most of them exhausted in sleeping on the royal blue rug or next to the fire. He had used up all but one regen potion you could apply directly to an injury, but he was pleased to see their were drinkable potions in the chests too. That would save him a lot of time he couldn’t afford to waste.

Finally he grabbed the bandages and a fresh water bucket before making his way back to the bottom floor, setting down a couple torches.

Techno hadn’t moved an inch, making Bad even more nervous than before. He had enough wood for a crafting table, and promptly made a temporary bed for the other. It wasn’t perfect, but it would do. Bad had sharpened his building skills after working with multiple builders on different projects, enough for his building skills to be quick and efficient.

He turned to the Blood God. Bad tucked his hands under the others uninjured shoulder and carefully turned him over to take a look at the new cut on his forehead.

The wound on his forehead wasn’t as bad as he thought it was going to be, but that wasn’t what caught the demon’s attention. For the first time, he saw what the Blade looked like without a mask. His face was, relatively unexpected. A deep old scar cut ran down his right eye while the other seemed undamaged. However there were other scars littering Techno’s face too, making Bad wonder where they had come from and how many battles he must have fought to get them all. His pink hair framed nicely around his face. Overall, he looked young and frankly, very human.

The demon always thought the other would have more traits that went with his piglin bloodline, but apart from small pig ears on the sides of his head and the red eyes he had seen earlier, everything looked very... human.

He shook his head, knowing that he was wasting valuable time. Bad managed to tuck his sharp hands underneath the hybrid’s arm, careful not to scratch him.

As expected, the Blade was heavy, causing Bad to have a hard time hoisting him up onto the bed and not hurt him even more. After some effort though, he had managed to pull the other into a relatively comfortable position and stepped back huffing.

He wasn’t sure what he should work on first as he stared at the injured man. His eyes landed back onto his face, more specifically, the wound on his forehead that was bleeding much more slowly now.

That would probably be a good place to start, the demon thought to himself as he rolled up his sleeves and got to work.

Chapter Text

Badboyhalo wasn't very squeamish when it came to first aid, but Technoblade had turned out to be an exception to that.

It had been a long time since Bad had dealt with injuries this severe, and the sheer about of blood that covered the other made the demon feel... Odd. Whatever it was, he didn't like it.

He would have to hope the drinkable regeneration potions would do most of the work, as he only had one applicable health potion left, which frankly was not enough for this.

He had seen the full extent of what he was dealing with here, now that he had already removed Techno’s cloak and shirt, His body was littered with even more battle scars, the new, deep slash across his left shoulder was going to be one to add to that. The were other various scrapes too, but this was the one that caught the demon’s attention most due to it's size.

He had already cleaned up the majority of the blood on the others head with the water bucket and a cloth. He had already prepared other bucket for the others body. As for the cloak and shirt, he would have to find a way to successfully clean and mend them, since they were both bloodied and torn. He didn’t think Techno would be too grateful if he found the demon had thrown out his only apparent clothing.

Bad grimaced as he got to work on the wound across the Blood God shoulder. Something like it would have normally needed stitches, but by looking at all the other scars that ran along the others chest and stomach, Techno would probably be ok without them. He didn’t have a choice either way, as he wasn’t exactly qualified for that sort of thing.

His mind quickly returned to the fact that a war had taken place without him. He didn’t know what exactly had happened to everyone, he didn’t even know who won the war or who was alive. That alone made his stomach twist with anxiety; he hoped his friends were still okay. At least he didn’t have to worry about Skeppy since he...

Bad’s frown deepened. He needed to stop thinking about it. He hated the fact that his best friend would pop into his head all the time when he wasn't around him, but he knew he couldn't help it. He was just worried for him.

Right now, he had to focus on Technoblade, and make sure he does all he can to help him. Even if they strictly weren't really friends.

The demon had to prop the other up to get a better angle so he could wrap the bandage properly around Techno’s shoulder. This proved to be difficult, as the Blood God’s body was weak and limp, while still being very heavy.

But Bad made do with it, even if it meant him feeling slightly crushed for a few minutes from the body leaning on him. He fastened the bandage relatively tightly around the other and carefully moved him back to laying down on the bed.

Techno was already looking a lot better then he was previously. Instead of looking a sickly grey from when he fainted, he was beginning to get a bit more colour into his face. Bad had to remove his crown so that he could wrap a bandage to secure the cut on his forehead.

The last thing he needed to do was get the Blade to drink one of the regen potions he had ready. He didn't think trying to pour the liquid down the others throat while he was sleeping would be a great idea, after all. Which meant he would have to wait until he wakes up.

For now, Badboyhalo could feel his eyes growing heavy from overly concentrating and exhaustion. He knew he had nowhere to sleep now, after Technoblade blowing up the basement for reasons that we're currently unknown to him or if it happened entirely by accident. There was always Techno’s bed, but that would feel intrusive. Not that he hadn't just been intrusive by tending to the taller’s wounds without his permission.

The demon sighed as he got to his feet, sleepily sauntering up the ladders to the top floor of the house. There, he grabbed all the dyed red blankets he found on Techno’s bed and wrapped them into a bundle, before heading back down to the crater.

On arrival, he wrapped the blankets around the Blood God, for no reason that stood out in his mind. All he knew was that it was cold right now in the semi-darkness, as a wintery storm blew wildly outside.

Bad then tucked himself onto his knees on the stone ground, hand gripping one of the blankets from the side of the bed, pulling it slightly towards him. With that, he softly rested his head against the wool mattress and promptly fell into a deep slumber.

The entire time, he was blissfully unaware of the quietness around him now that the villagers had appeared to be silenced.

<————>

Technoblade could feel his senses slowly drift back to reality as his eyes opened blearily. Black dots covered his vision, before slowly dissipating to reveal his surrounding.

His eyes met with an uneven stone ceiling, dimly lit up by torchlight. He was apparently still in the crater, but something felt off. At first he had believed he was sleeping in his own bed, but apparently not. He was comfortable though, something which couldn't be achieved by a stone floor.

Not only this, but his injuries felt surprisingly better than what he thought they would feel. He had grown relatively used to the feel in the morning after a war. It was almost like having the flu, everything was painful and tiring, all he would want to do is lay down as still as he could and wait for it to subside.

But right now, he probably felt the equivalent to having a pretty bad hangover. He head was pounding against his skull, making him feel a bit nauseous. A migraine most likely. He hadn't tried moving yet, but nothing really was hurting off it's own accord apart from his head.

It was then he decided to move his head slightly to the side, grunting slightly at the unwelcome pain and stiffness he was greeted with. To his surprise, the side of his face met with a wool mattress and the red blanket from his own bed.

To the side of the bed, his eyes met with two buckets, both seemed to contain very bloody water, proven by the red soaked cloth draped over the side of one.

He could here the voices utter words of confusion and concern for the Blood God as he tilted his head back up to face the ceiling, tired and wanting to go back to sleep so he could wake up and everything would be fixed.

His red eyes slowly began to edge shut before he violently flung them open as he felt something shift next to his left arm.

He turned his head reluctantly to the other side this time, eyes meeting the demon which had his head and arms resting on the side of the bed, sleeping.

Techno’s brain became unable to focus on anything anymore. The voices had only grown more confused and adamant, questioning why Badboyhalo was even there in the first place.

The Blade slowly lifted up his arm, wincing slightly as he brought his fingers down his own face, feeling a bandage wrapped around his forehead.

That was right. He had fainted. That was probably why things were so jumbled to him right now. He had hoped the voices would have some answers for him, but they seemed as confused as he was.

He suspected the demon was the one who had bandaged his head after he fell, he couldn’t imagine anyone else doing so right now. Had he even allowed Badboyhalo to stay? He couldn’t remember. It wasn’t like anything mattered now though. He wasn’t sure what he was meant to do next.

Well, there was one thing he had to do...

He gradually forced himself to sit up, continuing even when sharp pains sparked through his shoulder. That had been bandaged too, he realised, along with the fact that he was no longer wearing his shirt and had no clue where it was now.

He would have to ask Badboyhalo about it later, he wasn’t in the mood for social interaction right now. In fact, he was never in the mood for social interaction, but right now, he was particularly against it. So he didn’t like to way the demon stirred as he tried to get up out the bed.

It seemed lucky wasn’t on his side today, nor was it yesterday, as the glowing eyes of the other slowly opened, blinking up at Techno.

“Techno?” Bad yawned tiredly, only slightly coherent as he was waking up. “You’re awake!”

The Blood God was unsure how to reply, as he would surely sound disappointed, so he decided against the idea completely. Instead, he moved to get up completely.

“Wait- What are you doing?” The demon questioned him, seemingly fully awake and alert now.

“Getting up.” Techno bluntly stated before continuing. That was until he felt clawed hands push him back down. Or at least they tried, the blood god wasn’t going to budge.

He turned back around to meet the concerned eyes of Badboyhalo. “Let go.”

The demon shook his head firmly. “You need to rest.”

“I can’t,” The blade grunted back “There’s things I have to do.”

“I can do it for u!” The other tried. “But you need to given your injuries a bit longer to heal, or else they might open up again.”

“They won’t,” Techno assured. “Now where did you put my clothes?”

Bad blinked at him, before looking down at the Blood God’s bandaged chest. “Oh.”

“Oh?” Technoblade raised his eyebrows.

“Your clothes aren’t clean. I was gonna wash them but I think I must have forgotten about it as I was busy bandaging you up.”

Now it was Techno’s turn to look at his bandages. “Oh yeah.. Thanks for that..” He murmured.

When he tilted his head to look at Badboyhalo, he saw the large smile upon the demon’s face, clearly pleased with the thank you. It made Techno feel slightly embarrassed, so he turned away.

He doesn’t thank just anyone.

Chapter Text

In the end, Badboyhalo had managed to convince Techno to rest a bit longer. The Blood God, grumbling, had turned back to sleep to speed up the time.

Meanwhile, Bad had gone to clean up his clothes and wash his own too. He didn’t always get the chance to, so he took the opportunity.

Badboyhalo knew he would have to get back soon to his friends at the Badlands, more importantly, to Skeppy.

He hadn’t seen the other in a while now, and ever since the explosion, his scroll image of the diamond man had been destroyed along with the rest of the wreckage. And it wasn’t just the people of the Badlands he missed; he had also missed Puffy and Quackity, relatively recent friends of his.

Quackity had been a handful when they first met, in fact he still was. Bad had heard of him from a few friends; he was supposedly a duck hybrid with black wings. The wings reminded Bad of Philza’s, however there were some differences. The wings Philza possessed on his back were giant, his wingspan alone was almost a foot longer than the demon himself. Not only this, they were a sparkling silver that gradients down to a pale grey. Quackity’s, on the other hand, were quite a bit smaller causing him to be unable to fly. They were midnight black in colour very similar to his hair.

Recently, Bad had met up with the other, but he wasn’t the same. The winged man had arrived with a fresh scar running down the side of his face, though his left eye down to the side of his lip. It looked extremely sore, the eye had closed shut from the swelling while the flesh of his lip had been torn straight through. When the demon asked about what had happened, he found out Quackity had fought with Technoblade himself. He had lost the battle, and been left critically wounded, with a fresh scar down his face. It was surprising that Techno had even left him alive. Even so, Bad was well aware the Blood God was dangerous.

Both Quackity and Technoblade considered each other as enemies. Bad wouldn’t be surprised if Technoblade considered everyone as an enemy, honestly.

For the rest of the day, Badboyhalo found himself inspecting the environment more. He even went outside for a bit, even though the temperature was almost unbearable. He suspected they were far up north in the tundra. The snow was even deeper than it was when he first arrived, due to last night’s storm.

There were a few other structures around the base. The demon recognised a small bee farm, very carefully structured and well designed. It left him pleasantly surprised, that is until he turned to the right of the house to see the monstrosity next to it. It looked like it was going to be another house, although it was half finished and in ruin.

Upon entering the building, he noticed many gaps though the ceiling, letting in the light snow. But the thing that caught his attention was the picture on the wall. It was of TommyInnit and WilburSoot, taking a picture together. It must have been a while ago, since Wilbur wasn’t a ghost.... Bad wondered if this used to be Tommy’s house.

He eventually went back inside the house after enough exploring. He was ready to sleep, although he wasn’t sure where. Feeling as though it might be intrusive to sleep in Techno’s bed upstairs without asking, he settled on the royal blue mat next to the sleeping hounds. He made sure not to get too close to them while they slept. ‘Let sleeping dogs lie’ was the saying he was taught as a child, especially if the dogs were semi wild like the ones here.

He slowly closed his eyes, the quiet whirling of the wind outside and crackling of flames causing him to eventually doze off.

----

Badboyhalo woke up some time later during the next day. He wasn’t sure what the time was, but it must have been late due to the height of the sun outside the window.

His bones felt sore and stiff from the floor, the carpet hadn’t offered him much support. Oddly, the room was empty of the dogs that had filled the room beforehand. He wondered where they had run off to and how they even managed to find a way out.

Bad got up onto his feet with a slow yawn. He hoped to leave the house today so that he could go back to the Badlands to see his friends. Maybe the blood god could give him some directions to get out of here.

This had been a strange experience for him, since he had never held much communication with Technoblade even though he’s known him for a while. He was a long time friend of Skeppy after all, but they had met up along with the others at the festival on October 16th.

He headed down to the crater below the house to check on the other with a sigh. He hoped that they might be able to be friends after this. The demon much preferred having allies over enemies. And an alliance with Technoblade would be very valuable for the future.

Upon reaching the crater, he was confused to see the bed empty. The clean clothes he’d left on the floor besides it were gone too.

“Techno?” He called, searching upstairs again in each room, before he came back down to the crater. The Blade had completely disappeared.

Bad felt confused as he went to check the last place he thought he hadn’t checked; the place the villagers were being held. It was possible that Technoblade had decided to do some trading for whatever reason.

However when he got there, he noticed the dead silence that filled the room. There wasn’t a sound, the atmosphere in the air was cold and slightly eerie. Looking around, it looked as though all the villagers were gone too. He was in the house alone.

It felt like he had been placed into one of those movies where all signs of life had suddenly disappeared without reason. The demon walked down the basement and approached one of the villager chambers for a closer look. That’s when he noticed something he had completely overlooked.

Blood, which had now turned a rusty shade of brown, was smeared and splattered across the stone walls. It caused the demon to fall back onto the ground in shock and terror, as a faint, metallic smell worked its way up to his nose. That’s when he noticed the slight wetness as his hand touched the floor. The blood wasn’t just on the walls, it was on the floor too. It was everywhere.

Bad gulped down the nausea rising in his stomach and promptly made his exit. Rushing back upstairs, he washed his hands and gagged into the bucket of water he had washed them in. His brain was too overloaded with thoughts to select a rational one to explain what could have caused this. Was the culprit the hounds? Or could it be-

He shook his head in his hands, feeling the cold water wet his face. He wouldn’t- those villagers were his to trade with. Killing them wouldn’t benefit him at all. But... He realised it wasn’t against the nature of the blood god. He was very used to killing by now, after all.

The real question was why? What had caused him to commit something so violent and merciless as killing innocent villagers?

Badboyhalo breathed in deeply and exhaled. He needed to find Techno so he could get some answers. He couldn’t understand why the Blade would be outside, but it was the only place he hadn’t yet checked. He didn’t necessarily want to go out there due to the freezing cold and the lack of layers he was wearing, but at this point he didn’t have much of a choice.

Opening the side door, he crept out on the porch, the cold wind instantly biting at his skin. He didn’t know why anyone would choose to live here, it’s was cold and isolated. Like Techno. Maybe that was why.

His boots met with the snow with a crunch as he stepped off the porch and looked around, a figure immediately catching his eye.

Technoblade had his back to the demon as he crouched over a structure that wasn’t there when Bad went out yesterday. Either way, he recognised what it was immediately.

It was a memorial.

Techno remained knelt in from of it, cloak draped around him in the cold snow. Bad caught sight on a group of wildflowers that had been tired together by the stems, clutched in his scarred hand.

There was also something infront of the memorial that he couldn’t quite see, but he didn’t want to get any closer in case he disturbed the pink haired hybrid. Even though he had questions that needed to be answered, it would be too rude to interrupt Techno like this. However, the memorial itself had raised more questions? Who exactly had died? Was it why Techno seemed so emotionless and lost when he came back from war?

Bad wanted to be respectful, so he stepped back from the scene completely and was ready to step back inside. That was until a voice stopped him.

“Badboyhalo.” When the demon turned around he saw that Technoblade had got to his feet, having placed the flowers by the memorial. Bad looked down at what was next to the memorial and visiblly stiffened.

There on the snow, laid a green and white striped hat. A hat that specifically belonged to Philza. It didn't take Bad long to connect the dots.

“Is that-“ Bad was immediately interrupted.

“Phil died during the war.” Techno hadn’t yet turned around, but his voice sounded cold and bitter. Badboyhalo couldn’t imagine how the other was feeling right now.

“I’m so sorry.” The demon said, voice sincere and sad. Bad hadn’t spoken to Philza much, but he knew the winged man was truly a kind person, who didn’t deserve a fate like this. And his death was bound to have a big impact on the people he was close with, especially...

Badboyhalo was lost on what he could say to comfort the other for his loss. So instead he walked over to where he stood by the memorial and knelt down facing the hat and flowers. He didn’t have anything to give; everything he owned was either back at the Badlands or had been blown up. But he hoped at least being there would be enough.

Techno had eventually knelt back down onto the snow next to him, silence filling the cold air. Neither of them said a word for a long time; they just stared at the worn hat on the ground.

Chapter Text

The sun had begun to set, falling deeper into the horizon, so Techno had decided to go back inside, with Badboyhalo close behind.

The demon was extremely odd to him. Maybe it was the unnecessary amount of kindness he had, to the point of complete selflessness. He had been held hostage here, yet when Techno was injured he tended to his wounds, cleaned his clothes and even helped mourn for Phil.

“Do you know where the dogs are? They were all in here last night.” Badboyhalo suddenly asked, causing Techno to slightly turn his head towards him.

“I put them in the house next door. I assume you know the one I'm talking about.” Techno replied, sitting down next to his desk that held all his brewing stands.

“Oh, that one.” Bad chuckled slightly. “Its an... Interesting design.”

“Its not mine, Tommy built it when we were allies so he didn't have to stay in my basement anymore.” The Blade stated. “Ive been planning to take it down, but I decided it would be a good place to hold the hounds for now until I can build them a proper dog house.”

“Do they have names?”

Techno grunted, of course Bad would ask a question like that. “All the ones that did were killed. But I'll find new names for the others. I'll probably call one of them Fossil.”

Bad nodded, not questioning the choice of name. That was a good thing too, as the blood God wasn't sure how he would be able to go about explaining why.

There was a moment of silence, neither of them had anything they particularly had to do. The demon had sat himself down on the carpet, having no place to sit.

“Hey, ” Technoblade suddenly spoke up. “I have a question.”

Bad perked up, eyes lifting to his own, that we're still visible due to his lack of mask. It was broken, after all. He would have to find a way to fix it.

“What's your question?” He asked, curious.

“You’re a demon, right?” Techno raised his eyes as Bad looked back at him confused.

“Well yes... I'm a hybrid just like you. Why you ask?” Techno noticed the fact the other looked slightly uncomfortable.

“When you were cleaning my injuries with all the blood, you didn’t react at all did you? I mean I wasn’t awake, but-“ He was cut of by Bad who was suddenly laughing.

“I’m a demon, not a vampire!” Bad chuckled as he ran a clawed hand through his hair, underneath his hood.

“But I thought that was something that was meant to mess with you guys?” Techno tried, feeling slightly stupid for asking the question at all.

“Hmm..” Bad thought for a moment. “Well, blood alone doesn’t really affect us. I mean, there are different types of demons so I guess some might like that?”

“Different types?”

Bad nodded. “To be honest I’m not really sure, I haven’t met many demons before as most of them stay away from the over world and hide in the depths of the nether.”

‘That explains why I’ve never seen one before..’ Techno thought to himself over the sound of his confused voices in his head.

“Demons can’t easily stay in the overworld as they need life force from the people or animals who live there.”

Technoblade blinked at this. “Er.. Should I be concerned?”

This caused Bad to rapidly shake his head and hands at him, dismissive. “Nonono, you don’t have to worry! Once a demon makes a pact with someone in the Overworld, demons rarely need to be concerned needing to take life force. And since I’ve made one with Skeppy, life force is only something I very occasionally have to worry about.”

The voices all seemed to have many questions about what Bad had just said. Techno had to pick out one to ask. “What do you mean ‘occasionally’”

“Oh...” Bad drifted off, demeanor suddenly becoming very solemn. “If a demon stays in the Overworld during a Blood Moon, things can... change. But I usually am able to find out when they are and stay in the nether for a bit. Although it tends to be hard to predict when they are.”

This caused Techno to feel quite curious about whatever Bad was on about with the Blood Moons. Depending on how a demon changed during one; could he potentially be able to use it as a weapon? He wanted the other to elaborate, although he had gone quiet suggesting he wasn’t willing to share anymore. Technoblade felt relatively satisfied with the new information though.

“Actually Techno,” Bad spoke up, breaking the silence. “I have a question for you too...”

Surprised, the pink haired hybrid turned back to him. “Go ahead.”

“Um...” The other seemed hesitant, as he fiddled with his clawed fingers. “When I was looking for you, I went downstairs where the villagers.. were. But they were all gone and there was blood on the...”

He then drifted off completely, clearly unable to say anymore as he looked up to Techno, hoping he understood.

“Oh.” Techno replied shortly.

That wasn’t enough to satisfy the other clearly, so he shrugged slightly as he continued.

“It was a mistake. Killing them I mean.”

Bad’s gaze looked torn between hurt and incredulous as he opened his fanged mouth to speak again. “How- Why did you-“

“Anger comes to me more easily then sadness does.” Techno suddenly stated, causing the demon to stop and listen. “When it hit me that Phil had really been killed, I didn’t know how to handle how I felt. I... forgot why I took it out on the villagers. But there was so much anger... I didn’t know how else to let it out.”

Techno breathed out, gripping the side of his cloak, eyes focusing on anything but the demon sitting in front of him. Bad was slowly nodding, unsure how to take in the new information. It seemed the Blade wasn’t very used to opening up, so Bad was grateful he did in the end.

“Thanks.. for telling me that. I know what it’s like to loose someone who’s close to you. It’s really tough and takes a while to fully process it. I’m actually surprised you managed to so fast.” The demon said grateful.

This caused the Blood God to glance at him, face expressing an odd look which Bad couldn’t understand.

“Are you sure you’re a demon?” Techno then said, sceptically which caused the other to chuckle.

“I’m pretty certain. I get that a lot.”

Techno hummed in response, clearly showing some disinterest now. It seemed he had something else on his mind. “Tomorrow, I'll show you the way back to L’Manburg.”

Bad looked up in surprise. He hadn't expected the Blood God to show him the way back himself. Part of him felt relieved, since he wasn't up for getting lost in the snowy tundra any time soon. He also felt grateful that he would finally be able to get back to see Skeppy and his friends. However, there was another part of him, small and tucked away, which felt a sense of guilt. It left Bad confused for why he felt that way.

“Oh er, L’Manburg doesn't look the same as it did before. You probably already knew that but just as a warning.” Techno noted quickly.

“Yeah... I kinda expected that.” Bad laughed awkwardly, torn about how he's was meant to feel.

They sat in silence for a little longer, each of them thinking about very different things, but neither of them feeling a need to say something. Eventually, Techno declared that he was going to go upstairs to sleep. It did seem late after all, although Bad wasn't sure what time it actually was.

He left with a short good night, climbed up the ladder to his room and shut the trapdoor after him. That was when the demon realised he was going to have to spend another night on the floor.

Chapter Text

It was the next day. The sun had risen well above the skyline, causing the snow to glisten like diamonds from it's piercing rays. It was a nice day, the best that Bad had seen in the tundra so far. But it was time to leave.

He was following close behind Technoblade who heavily trudged through the thick ice at his feet. He had put his mask back on, even though it was broken, revealing one of his sharp crimson eyes. Ever since the war, Bad had noticed the eyes of the other had grown more and more focused and aware, to the point they appeared how the demon always imagined they would.

Techno had never questioned about Bad having seen his face. This was surprising, as the demon always thought it was something he kept private to outsiders. He had also slightly changed his attire. His normal red cloak with cream fur had been swapped to one Bad hadn’t seen before. It was embroidered and an arctic blue, it’s fur a cool light grey. Bad thought it complimented his pink hair nicely.

Techno must have noticed the other slowing down in pace from his thoughts, and stopped to turn around and give him a glance. Bad noticed and quickly hurried to his side, uttering a quick apology for being slow.

They entered the nether one at a time, the contrast in temperature hitting them both as soon as they teleported. Although, Badboyhalo was thankful for it. He hadn’t felt comforting heat like this for a while now.

“What are you going to do next, Techno?” The demon suddenly asked out of the blue, as they walked single-file down one of the nether paths.

Technoblade shrugged. “Probably go back into retirement. Nothing better to do.”

Badboyhalo nodded, in thought.

“What are you going to do?” The Blade then asked, bored.

“Oh...” Bad sighed. “I have a few things I have to figure out.”

Technoblade raised his eyebrows from under his mask. “Seems kinda sus.”

Bad’s reaction was immediate. “What?!? It’s not! I mean, have you heard about the egg yet?”

The Blood God looked behind him to meet Bad’s eyes. “Egg? Like from a chicken?”

The demon laughed slightly, but it seemed more nervous then happy. “Er close. An egg showed up on the DreamSMP out of nowhere. At first, nobody thought much of it, but it’s becoming a big problem. It seems to have the ability to change how people behave in order to protect itself. We’ve covered the egg up in obsidian to stop it affecting people and to hopefully stop it from growing too. But for some people it might be too late...”

“Huh...” Technoblade responded, slightly weirded out by the new information. He goes into retirement for like a month and not only has he already gone to war, but some weird ‘egg’ has now made its appearance. “Well it’s just an egg, right?”

Bad didn’t reply to that, so they both continued walking, the only sound present being their footsteps and the crackling of lava. Techno couldn’t help but notice the demon was acting kinda down. It was too bad though, he had no clue how to offer comfort to others.

“So.” Techno, breaking the silence. “Once you get back, mind if you don’t tell the whole server where I live?”

Bad looked up. “Oh yeah, I wasn’t planning to.”

“Not even Skeppy, I know what that guy is like.” The pink haired hybrid added.

This caused Bad to smile slightly. “Not even Geppy..”

Techno turned back around, noticing the portal in the near distance. Well, that was their destination, it was time for Badboyhalo to go back home and potentially become an enemy to him. Techno couldn’t predict the future, but he was pretty sure the demon would take one look at the crater that was L’Manburg and then reveal where he lived to everyone.

“Well, here’s the portal.” The Blade stated. “I’ll be going through, but after that, I won’t be going any further.”

“Are you sure?” Bad asked hesitantly. “What happens if someone sees you?”

Techno snorted. “I doubt that. Not many people even go down this way.”

Bad winced slightly at that, although he knew he couldn’t argue with the other. So he stepped into the portal behind him, tail wrapped up around his own leg.

Upon teleporting, they were greeted with the bright sunny skies over the hub of the dreamSMP. Bad gasped in surprise once he saw the community house, which had been completely repaired. It now looked even better than before.

“Wow.” Techno whistled. “They get to work quick, don’t they?”

Bad nodded slowly, before turning back to Techno who leant against the portal, extremely similar to how Philza did only a few days ago.

“Am...” Bad thought for a moment. “Am I allowed to visit you?”

Technoblade went quiet for a moment. Maybe he was surprised or just thinking, but he eventually responded. “Do what you want.”

This caused Bad’s face to break out into a wide smile, apparently satisfied with the answer. “Thanks!”

Techno shrugged and turned around. “Well I'll be on my w--”

He abruptly stopped for some reason, staring at something in front of him through the portal. Bad, confused, looked to the side of the other in hope to see what had made him pause so dramatically.

That's when he caught sight of a figure wearing a blue costume. On closer inspection, the man in front of them seemed to be wearing a Sonic fursuit, only his face was exposed. He wore an expression of absolute genuine fear and horror.

“Its Connor..” The demon whispered to the Blood God, who still hadn't said a word. He didn't need to, as Connor suddenly broke out into a piercing scream that led Bad’s ears to ring harshly in pain afterwards.

“AHHHHH ITS TECHNOBLADE!!!!!” He screeched before turning a 180 to the opposite direction to run for his life.

Surprisingly Techno didn't move to go for him  and instead turned around quickly. “Well that's my queue to get outta here.” He stated and hopped into the portal.

“That sounds like a good idea. See you soon Techno.” Bad offered him a smile, yet still slightly concerned about what just happened.

“Byee--” Techno said in his usual tone, before getting cut off by teleporting away.

With that, Bad found himself standing next to the central portal of the Dream SMP, completely alone.

<———->

“BAD!!” There was a voice from the distance as Bad made is way down the wooden prime path to get to the mansion that belonged to Skeppy and him.

He turned around, recognising the voice immediately.

“Puffy! Long time no see!” The demon grinned at her, his fangs slightly poking out. However, Puffy didn’t look very impressed at him.

“Don’t give me that. Where WERE you Bad!?” She rushed over to him until she had stopped a meter away, crossing her arms.

“Oh erm..” Bad’s mind was racing. He should have expected a question like this and prepared an answer beforehand. “I was... looking for something.”

The sheep hybrid did not look convinced. “And is this thing so important to you that you have to spend DAYS looking for it? You never even told us you left! You just disappeared- We were worried about you, Bad.”

The feeling of guilt washed over his body. He really should have gone and seen his friends to reassure then much sooner, then there was Techno. He would have to lie about it.

“It is important to me. I went out to see if I could find any clue about how I could... cure Skeppy.” He winced at his own lie, the fact he had to swap the truth with something so important to him.

But it did the trick, as Puffy’s angry expression morphed into one of sympathy. “Oh Bad...” She trailed off, trying to pick out the right words. “He’ll be okay. I know you’re worried about him, but I know we’ll find a cure for him soon. You should warn us next time though.”

She continued. “Anyways, you missed a lot. Have you seen L’Manburg yet?”

“No... I have no idea what to expect.” Badboyhalo admitted.

“Well, I’d brace yourself for it than.” Puffy warned as she began walking in front of him. “Cmon! I’ll show you.”

Reluctantly, Bad followed on behind her. Honestly, he didn’t care about how L’Manburg looked now. All he wanted to do was check on his best friend.