Chapter Text
Techno wasn't the one to complain about violence. He was always surrounded by it, fighting, death. That's what you get when you're in a gang. There’s always some conflict going on between clans, always some sort of argument. He always knew how to take care of himself, and that's all he needed to survive. Or at least that’s what he thought. The day it all started was just a normal day.
He woke up in his apartment, his head aching from the night before. What had he done again? Oh right, a party. He had drunk too much and the police had tried to interfere after it had gotten slightly out of hand. That was probably his fault, some douche bag had tried to slip a pill into his drink, so Techno punched him. It didn’t end well for that guy, one punch to the face and a hospital trip later, Techno learned that he had broken the guy's nose and cracked his cheek bone. That was what he deserved when trying to mess with the Blood God.
He slid out of bed and stretched, the few scars on his arms and back quivering as his muscles tensed. His white wolf tattoo on his back, his clan symbol, twisting as he rolled his shoulders. He grabbed his collared shirt off from the frame of his bed and pulled it over his head. Yawning Techno headed to the bathroom and ran his hand through his bed hair. He looked at himself in the mirror, pausing to look at his reflection.
His most prevalent scar was across his nose, but it was the one that, ironically, hadn’t been caused by fighting or a person. He had been running through the town and accidentally been sliced by a nail, protruding from a board leaning on the side of an alleyway, he had ultimately turned the corner too sharply and it had now caused his most major scar.
Techno grabbed a comb and brushed it though his hair, he had decided to go with pink, as people would think not much more of him as some dude with bright hair.
After he brushed it and pulled it up into a ponytail he grabbed his pocket knife he had left beside the sink and slipped it into his pocket for later.
Heading out of the bathroom he passed though his kitchen and grabbed some bread from the pantry. Slipping on his shoes and opening the front door, he stepped out ready to head to his weekly meeting with the rest of the group's higher ups, when he ran to his neighbor.
Phil Watson, probably the one person who he considered a decent human. He was always so kind to Techno, even when late at night he stumbled back into his apartment, covered in blood, Phi would come over and check on him, dress his wounds and leave without any questions. It was much more than even his parents had done for him.
Techno nodded at the man as he stepped to walk beside him. Phil smiled at Techno and said, “Good morning mate, how are you today?”
Techno his bread and rubbed his head with groan, the headache not yet subsiding, “Rough,”
“Eventful night you had,” Phil chucked, “I miss those days,”
“Ya,” Techno said, rounding the corner to the elevator and pushing the button, “you have no idea, I bet you probably weren't as reckless as me,”
“Don't make assumptions,” Phil grinned. Techno looked doubtful at the man's kind scruffy face.
“You don't strike me as the kind of person who fights and kills others,” Techno tapped his foot, wondering what was taking the elevator so long.
“You never know,” Phils eyes sparked, “you think of me as a harmless man who just hangs out in his house all day, waiting for his wife to come home, but as far as you know, I could be a serial killer who has hundreds of victims,”
Techno stared at Phil, aghast, as the elevator door dings and opens, “you think your joking, but I really don't know anything about you,”
“I could say the same four you,” Phil walked into the open elevator with Techno close behind and push the button for the first floor, “For all of the times you have stumbled home, with blood crusted on your clothes, I could guess you get into some deep shit when your out in the streets,”
Techno hummed as the elevator doors. His hands in his pockets, fiddling with his hidden blade, “Deep shit for sure,”
Classical music played faintly over the speakers as they descended down, neither one of them talking as they waited for the doors to chime with the arrival at the first floor. Quietly Techno shifted on his feet, glancing over at Phil.
“So what did you do when you were my age?” Techno asked. He wondered if Phil had a childhood like him or was he really just joking.
“I'm not that old,” Phil smiled faintly, “Nothing too important, but there are some things that I regret,” He sighed and rolled up his left sleeve, revealing a tattoo of a crow. Techno stared at the bird tattoo, trying to place where he had seen it before. It was strangely familiar. He looked up at Phil, about to ask what it was from, but then the elevator dinged and the doors opened on the first floor. Phil walked out into the lobby.
“Hmm, it's oddly quiet in here,” he said looking around the room. It was usually filled with a few people, lounging on couches, eating breakfast or getting their pets ready for walks. But this morning was different, the lobby was quiet, empty of people.
“That’s strange,” Techno said, following Phil out, “there’s always usually someone here,”
Techno looked around the barren room. Nothing made him worried or really scared, but this was different, the silence and emptiness unnerved him. People were always down here, whether it was late at night or mid day. It was never empty, never like this.
“There has to be someone around here,” Techno walked over to the closet couch and looked in it’s gap between the wall.
Nothing.
Phil rubbed his hands together and laughed nervously, “this must be a sluggish morning for everyone,”
Techno turned toward the blond man, “I don’t know, not even the attendant here, and she’s always here,”
Now Phil looked uneasy, “let’s just head out, everyone will probably be back later,”
Techno nodded, he did have to get to his clan meeting soon. If he was late for that, his reputation would sink, his pristine nature of being on time tarnished.
“Alright, see you later,” Techno waved and walked to the front door and out to the morning streets. The sound of cars and people through the streets started to calm his stressed nerves as he jogged along the sidewalk, passing the old flower shop that Ms, Puffy owned. The scent of fresh flowers freshening the air. Soon the ally he was looking for came into view. It stretched back far behind the buildings. Trash lined the walls. Techno wrinkled his nose, it always was so unpleasant here. He slowed down to a walk, his boots sloshing through puddles of goo from abandoned bags of trash. The footfall of someone running echoed around the enclosed walls, the splash of someone running. Techno stopped, waiting to see who it could be, his hand going instinctively to his pockets.
Then a man rounded the corner of a Garbage bin at the edge of a sharp turn, his breath coming in quick gasps as he ran. He had short stubble across his chin and ragged hair. There was a snake tattoo across his cheek, the sign of another clan. Techno stood still as the man ran towards him.
“Help me!” He yelled, “Some stupid thugs are ganging up on me, they will kill me!”
Techno just looked at him, wondering who he pissed off. Then another figure appeared, rounding the corner, then another two. Techno recognized them. They were from the dragon clan. It was one of the strongest groups around. The man in the front has a smiling mask on the side of his head of brown hair and a black skin tight tank top on and black leggings. The two behind him had similar clothes, one had a slim white bandanna around his head, the other had white round glasses. These people were from one of the top rival clans around, and the only group that Technos gang were at partial peace with.
As the fleeing man passed him, Techno stuck his foot out, tripping him. He stumbled and crashed into a pile of full trash bags, which burst from the impact and spewed gunk over the walls. Techno wiped some wet coffee grains that had splashed on his cheek. He watched the man flail around, covered with banana peels. He was in for a beating when the three from the dragon group got to him.
“Why,” The guy said, his eyes wide with betrayal and fear. Techno turned his back to the man and pulled part of his shirt down his back, revealing the white wolf.
He gasped, “Your - Your the-”
Techno turned back towards him with a cold frown on his face. Bending down, he grabbed the man's collar and pulled him up.
“Yes, it's me. Did you really think you could get away from clans like us, snake,” Techno grinned, bringing the mans face closer to his, “I doubt you will get out of this alive, you messed up bud,”
Dropping him back into the trash, Techno stood to the side as the three men from the Dragon clan ran past him. The one with a mask, Dream, glanced at Techno, they held eye contact for a second and Dream gave him a slight nod before catching up to the Snake clan subordinate and nailing him with a punch to the face.
Techno turned and continued to walk away down the alley, the sound of the man's cries for help getting lost in the wind. The sound of punches nailing bone sounding across the walls.
This was all a normal day. Back alleys were not the place for someone to get lost in. If you didn't know what you were doing or where you were going, you could very much end up injured or even dead by one of the many groups who dwelled back here.
People who weren't involved in the darker parts of the city thought of them as relentless cruel people and they weren't wrong. You had to be heartless and emotionless to cope in an environment like this. There was no slack or mercy here.
Techno picked up the pace and jogged out of the alleyways and into an open, a small deserted park in the clearing, covered in graffiti and littered with trash. A set of two small swings swung in a soft breeze, one of them with a person tilted back and forth. Techno recognized the figure as one of the people who he was meeting. A guy named Jschatt, a strong older man with a drinking problem. Even with his addiction to alcohol, he was a strong fighter.
As Techno got closer to the guy, he noticed something was off. Even when drunk, Jachatt had a strong posture, a strong composure, he never slumped fully over. But now he has a hunch, his head hanging down, a bottle of beer shattered and spilled on the ground. Jschatt would spill his drink.
Techno slowed down, trying to see his face. He crept around then reached for Jschlatts shoulder. When Technos fingers brushed the man's shoulder, his body tipped backward, the swing sliding out from under him and thumping to the floor.
Techno leaped back, his heart racing. What was this, why was Jschatt acting so strangely?
Techno looked at Jschlatt, now on the floor and he saw his face for the first time. His eyes were open and glazed over, staring at the sky, his mouth was partially cracked and he realized -
He wasn’t breathing.
Techno reached again with a trembling hand and held the inside of the man's wrist. Nothing. No pulse. Nothing.
Techno backed up and leaned against the pole, staring at the swaying swings, shaking. His hands shivered as he brushed back his hair. He never felt like this, he was always surrounded by death, so why, why was this different.
He knew why, there was something wrong about this. Something so wrong.
Techno straightened up and bent over to close Jschatts eyes, when he noticed something. A crusted bite mark on his arm and his skin was a dull yellow green, not the tan grey that it had originally been and in patches along his arms and neck there was a fungus-like substance. Technos fingers hovered over a patch on the man's ear, about to touch it, when Jschatt's body seized. It trembled and shook uncontrollably, spazzing out on the ground.
Techno had been sure that he had been dead. He was 100 percent sure, he was cold and there was no heartbeat, no way for him to come back alive.
Techno stumbled back as the body rolled over and scrunched up on itself, it’s bones cracking as it stood up. It grabbed onto the swing and unsteadily stood straight, eyes wide and unfocused, staring at Technoblade. A strangled moan escaped its mouth and it lurched at Techno, weaving around the swing in a stumbling gate.
This wasn’t Jschatt anymore, this was a monster, a corpse, and it was coming straight for Technos soul.