Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

As the blond closed up his bar, the street lamps came on. The bar was now illuminated by the orange glow of the street lamps and a slight red from the bar’s lights. As Phil cleaned the bar, he saw many shops around the street start to close. People flooded into the streets to get to their cars or homes.

While the crowd passed, the blond took down the bell from the door that signified that someone entered. A few seconds later, a figure ran through the door. They were wearing a purple cloak that covered their entire body except for their shoes.

Phil chuckled. “Someday I'm going to mistake you for a criminal if you keep entering like that, Scott.” He said, glancing at the cloaked figure that had disappeared into the back room.

The figure took down their cloak, revealing their hair that looked like a galaxy. Actual small stars were scattered throughout their hair and their eyes were a pure purple, no pupils or anything. Their skin was also a dark purple and way more jagged than human skin. 

Scott was one of the many hybrids that Phil housed during the night when hunters were heavily about. Phil took off his work shirt, revealing his midnight gray wings. He ruffled them lightly, trying to get them used to being out in the open instead of under his clothes. 

“And someday I'll mistake you for an actual bird. But that’s not now, so I will make my dramatic entrances as much as I want.” Scott said, removing his cloak fully and setting it on one of the many tables. 

With his cloak gone, his overly fancy clothes were revealed. A blue trench coat paired with golden highlights. Where a zipper would be on a normal jacket, there was solid gold lining both sides of the trench coat. He also wore a gold belt and necklace, however they were a darker type of gold so they didn’t clash with the coat. The trousers he was wearing were a darker blue than the coat, however there was still some slight gold detail. His boots were such a dark purple that they nearly looked black. 

Sometimes Phil wished he had the amount of money Scott had, to be able to afford adding gold to your clothing was something of his dreams. Even to own a gold necklace would be out of reach for the bar owner.

There was a reason Scott was able to afford all this though, he was well-known to be the only starborne on earth and had many, many bounties on his head. So, he took advantage of that and stole the bounties that were supposed to be rewarded to humans for killing him. Phil always found it funny, how the person with the bountie on their head could just ask for the hunting job and steal the money themselves. 

While Phil also had bounties on his head, he wasn’t near enough bold to go and ask for the hunting job himself then steal the bountie. That was a very difficult thing to do and him being able to fly wouldn’t be able to get him out away from a ton of hunters, who all had access to nets that were fired from cannons. Those could easily bring him down, his wings were very sensitive and if anything wrapped around them, they were registered completely unusable.

So, he stayed at the bar and worked as a bartender to make money. It was a much easier job than most hybrids had. Some more common hybrids, like bee hybrids and feline hybrids were forced into very difficult jobs. Bee’s were commonly electricians because they could fly, however it drained all their energy and they weren’t permitted  breaks to get food from flowers. Felines were put into circuses, using their jump abilities and tails to do extraordinary tricks; however they got the hardest job that was available and were paid very little.

Phil nearly got forced into being an electrician until people started hunting elytrians, his hybrid type, more and they got increasingly rare because people found out their wings had the ability to let humans survive massive falls by gliding with them. So, he was one of the very few left and now had heavy bounties on his head.

“Do you want a drink or are you just running from hunters again?” Phil asked, making sure all his windows were fully covered by the blinds he put down. 

“Just running for today. Fundy should be here in a few minutes, we were together when we got recognized.” Scott said, helping Phil check the windows.

On cue, a small figure ran through the door. The figure had a dark orange cloak on, which he quickly removed. 

His bright orange ears and hair were probably why he and Scott were recognized. Fundy was known for being one of the shorter hybrids, being a kitsune. Phil imagined he was probably asked to remove his cloak because, like everyone else that entered this bar, he had a bounty on his head. For him, it was for good reason.

Fundy was one of the most famous criminals. He was a robber. He stole everything he could get his hands on, including Phil’s stuff. Fundy was the person you had to keep an eye on or else everything you owned would be gone. At first, Phil thought he was a kleptomaniac and couldn't really help it, but no. Fundy just liked to steal things because kitsune were only popular in Japan, where they are actually treasured, and he was jealous and took it out on humans by stealing. Not just humans actually, just everyone.

Phil was once again jealous at his friend's boldness. He would never be brave enough to steal from anyone. Fundy pickpocketed people so often, he had to have pickpocketed at least a hundred cops at this point. Phil wouldn’t dare go near a cop, even if he was in his disguise. 

“Oh look, the shortie has arrived.” Scott commented, sitting on one of the tables.

“Oh-” Fundy wheezed before he could finish his sentence. It must've been a long run, Fundy rarely got tired. Kitsunes had such a high stamina that it had to have been at least a mile straight. “Shut up.” Fundy finished, his wheezing calming down. 

“Says the one who back talked the cops too much and got us caught.” Scott retorted, glaring at Fundy. Which seemed mutual, both of them were giving the other a death glare.

“ I’m not the one who immediately took off their cloak when asked!” 

“You did too!”

“Did not!”

“Did too!”

“Shut up!” Phil yelled over the two. They immediately quieted down, now whisper-arguing while Phil groaned.

“Fundy, do you want some water?” The whisper-arguing seized, and Fundy immediately ran to the back room to get it himself. “It’s not back there!” Fundy ran back out.

“Then where is it!” Fundy yelled at him, which seemed like it was supposed to be threatening but seemed more like a child threatening you that Santa was going to put you on his naughty list.

“I’ll get it.”Phil told him, before walking behind the back bar and grabbing a bottle he had stashed in a cabinet behind all the alcohol. It was supposed to be for him, but it seemed like Fundy might have needed it a bit more, considering he was still wheezing slightly.

He tossed the bottle to Fundy, who jumped to catch it but still dropped it. Scott laughed at him, Fundy gave him another glare that told Phil he was going to be stealing from Scott later. 

After grabbing the bottle, Fundy downed the whole thing and tossed it back to Phil, who threw it in the trash. The two went back to their whisper-arguing and Phil went back to cleaning.

It was about another hour before Phil was done cleaning the tables. It was well dark by now and Fundy had left. However Scott still sat on the table, occasionally telling Phil he missed a spot while he was mopping. At first, Phil found this annoying before he realized Scott was just trying to help.

It was always hard to tell when Scott was being rude or just helping. He picked up English purely from hearing people on the streets speak and most of the time, Phil and other hybrids. He must've picked up from one of the hybrids that visited around here, probably Tommy. Phil made a comment saying that ‘you missed a spot’ was commonly taken as rude and he stopped. 

When he went to put the mop away, there was a knock on the door. None of the hybrids that visited his bar knocked. 

“Coming!” Phil said, before quickly getting on his work shirt again and hiding his wings. He told Scott to hide in the back room before answering the door.

As he expected, it wasn’t a hybrid. It was the police and a hybrid hunter, telling from their white uniform that had a hh patch on the right arm. Phil had mezmorized the uniforms, having enough run-ins with them as a kid.

“Hello officers, what can I help you with?” Phil asked, putting on his kind, work voice again.

“We heard rumors of you housing hybrids here from other shop owners around here. Recently, someone spotted a kitsune running out of your bar, Mr.Watson.” The hybrid hunter answered, making direct eye contact with Phil.

“I am unaware of any hybrids entering or leaving my shop. It could have been one of my late workers hurrying to get home.” Phil answered, praying to all heavens above that they hadn’t seen Fundy’s ears.

“Unless your workers are hybrids, then we are sure that they have been visiting your bar.” The hybrid hunter said, pulling out a picture from his pocket that showed a figure with bright orange hair and ears running out from his bar. In the photo, it looked like Fundy was about to pull up his hood. Phil noticed a purple pixel in the background from his door being open. There was no denying it, he was housing hybrids.

Phil nearly didn’t have an answer, considered slamming the door on them and fleeing through the back door. He heavily considered this as an option, but he needed this job.

Before Phil could make up a lie, one of the police spoke up. “We would like to sweep the area, please move aside Mr.Watson.”

Phil made a split second decision.

He slammed the door.

“Scott, run!” Phil yelled, running to the back room. Scott followed Phil out the back door.

Hastily ripping off his work shirt with his talons to get his wings free, he saw Scott fire a mini star at one of the police turning the corner.

As soon as his wings were free, he grabbed Scott’s wrist and took off.

Chapter Text

It was only a few seconds before he heard a cannon fire. Luckily, the net had missed him and the elytrian continued to fly into the night.

He had let go of Scott, during the night he got special powers, being a starborne and all, and floated gently down to the ground. He kept up with Phil on the ground. Being able to teleport slightly and boot himself forward with his powers the two somewhat successfully escaped from the hunters. Somewhat, because Phil nearly got caught in a net again and Scott got shot in the leg.

They took a rest in an abandoned hospital.

Or, tried to…

The second the two closed the hospital doors, the lights switched on. Lining the walls were hundreds upon hundreds of cages that housed thousands of hybrids. Bees, avains, giants, inchlings, and even more. Phil barely got to register that they were in a hybrid capture center before about a thousand alarms went off, lights flashing and when he turned to the door, locked from the outside. 

All the hybrids were sent into panic, many crashes were heard but drowned out with the loudness of the alarms. Phil tried to reach for Scott, for something recognizable in this complete mayhem. Only for his hand to be stopped by what he assumed was a hunter. 

The next time he woke up, he was in what looked like an insane asylum. Padded walls, barely any lights and the few lights being covered in multiple layers of plastic which made them very dim, the door being padded and when Phil tried, locked. Luckily his hands weren’t bound, however his wings were. Covered in what looked like pure obsidian, which made them very heavy and a majority of the hours he spent in the room (or he assumed hours, there were no clocks in here) he was sitting to not strain his legs and back.

When someone finally entered the room, it was just a keeper here to leave him food. Keepers were the people that helped manage these facilities. They were the ones that made sure that the hybrids weren’t dead, but also didn’t have a good time. Some were assigned to leave hybrids food, others water. But some were assigned to torture the hybrids for information on other hybrids whereabouts or just torture hybrids that misbehaved. 

But the worst keepers of all were trainers. Trainers were the keepers that would torture you, trying to build up all your abilities to get ready for a giant line of fighting called the pit. Trainers would force you above your limits until you were basically dead, because in the pit, chances of survival were so low they didn't care about basically killing you before you actually got killed.

Phil had been trained and been in the pit before. That was how he escaped every time. He was put into the pit and he would fly away after his victory, leaving the crowd astonished and mad, while also putting that hybrid center out of business for letting such a valuable hybrid escape.

The pit was commonly an arena. Thousands of people in a stadium watching hybrids battle to the death because they thought that hybrids were below their ‘very advanced’ race. Humans enjoyed suffering, humans enjoyed betting, humans enjoyed blood. Current humans think themselves to be better than to say The Romans, because they didn’t have violent chariot races. What was the difference, watching people die for your entertainment or watching hybrids die for your entertainment.

Some would agree, hybrids should not be shunned because they are different but those people are silenced, told not to speak their opinion. Because everytime a bad hybrid would do something, they would be proven wrong.

Phil wished for a different life multiple times, wished to be a human. But wishes never come true for the people that need it, do they?

Phil’s thoughts were interrupted by a crash at the door. He attempted to stand up but it seemed like the weight on his wings increased and he was forced to stay sitting. The door swung open before another hybrid was thrown in.

The pink hair immediately told him that it was one of his old friends that he had met in the pit. Technoblade.

Technoblade was one of the most famous hybrids, not for being wanted, but for surviving in the pit every time. He was one of the strongest hybrids Phil knew, non-power wise. See, Techno was actually a bunny hybrid. One of the hybrids that was claimed to be the weakest. One of the hybrids that seemed to have so many more negatives than positives. A hybrid that died so often because they had basically no powers. That was Techno, the strongest fighter in the pit.

Techno had trained for years and years, being in captivity his entire life after he beat a blazeborne, an incredibly strong hybrid, in the pit at fifteen. The scars littered across his body weren’t from fighting, no, Techno had never gotten more than a scratch on him during a battle. All his scars were from training. He was the leading example in facilities of what can happen when you comply with your trainer, because they covered his scars in makeup.

But Techno never followed his trainers. No, he trained with any hybrid that was willing to at all hours of the night. He trained against the strongest and came out on top every time. He trained with the weakest and taught them how to be stronger while getting stronger himself. Techno was a rebel, but the shining face of compliance. Because humans would never accept that a hybrid had bested them. That a hybrid had gotten strong in captivity by properly training. No, humans don’t like that. Humans don’t like when other kinds best them. 

Once again, his thoughts were interrupted with a bang. Techno had kicked the door and his exceptional bunny leg strength threatened to break it. Sadly, all it did was shake the room.  

Techno seemed to not have noticed the elytrian, continuing to kick the door and shake the room. Over and over again until Phil’s ears rang. He tried to talk, to grab the bunnies attention but every time that he tried, Techno would kick the door again and the noise would drown out Phil’s words.

Phil would try to touch his shoulder to get his attention, but Techno had such quick reflexes that Phil would be on the other side of the room the second he tried. So he waited until Techno tired out, which felt like an entire week before the hybrid eventually laid down to rest his legs.

“Well that was fun.” Phil said sarcastically, making sure he was a safe distance away from the bunny hybrid.

Techno’s ears immediately shot up and so did he. He got into a fighting position before immediately dropping it when he realized that it was Phil. A slight smile appeared on the hybrid's face, before jumped over to him and he tackled Phil into a hug.

“I thought you had died! You left me here!” Techno said, his commonly monotone voice cracking under the tears.

Phil had always thought of Techno as a son. When Phil got captured, Techno was just eleven years old and Phil had basically raised him before he escaped.

“You know me, I'd never avoid capture forever.” Phil chuckled, patting the pinkettes head. 

The two shared some emotional moments before another keeper appeared. The two broke apart, glaring at the keeper.

“You two are going against a hybrid next month. Your trainer will arrive in a moment.” They said, before going to shut the door.

“Wait!” Phil yelled, the door didn’t open but it didn’t close either. “Who are we fighting?”

“The hybrid you came here with. What was its name, Scott?”

Chapter Text

No. No no no no NO! Phil couldn’t fight him. He wouldn’t let Techno fight him. No, of all the hybrids. They wanted Phil dead! They wanted Techno dead! They couldn’t win, the keepers wouldn’t let them win. They were putting Scott in battle to kill them. Phil wouldn’t. He wouldn’t! Nobody would! They would make Scott kill everyone. Or kill him when he wouldn’t comply. He wouldn't comply! 

Phil started hyperventilating. His thoughts were fuzzy, the only word he could make out was no. No over and over again, because no! No fighting, no more hurting, no, no no!

He heard Techno’s voice through his clouded thoughts. The no’s drowned him out. Sobs shook his body, he grabbed for something. Something to take him back to reality. He found Techno. Techno’s voice that eventually got through to him, his calming words. Techno helped him. 

The no’s slowed down, his sobs calming down and his breathing slowly going back to normal. After he finally calmed down, Techno gently asked him some questions.

“Who is Scott?” Techno asked to start off.

Phil explained, the only starborne on earth. The strongest hybrid he had ever met. The person he had helped get used to earth for years. His friend. Not just someone he helped, his friend .

Techno waited for a while to ask another question. By the look on his face, he was planning to just try and get Phil out of the pit but even Techno knew that despite his strength, Scott had the upper hand.

When Techno finally opened his mouth to ask another question, the door opened again. There was a person who was shorter than Phil but he looked alot more tough.  Tons of scars littered his arms, but the most obvious one was a giant scar that went from his top lip to his left eye. His hair was pitch black and very short. His clothes were very battered and torn, which was quite expected, the material they were made of looked very thin and cheap to Phil. He was wearing a simple slightly fancy white shirt and dark blue trousers that could be mistaken for jeans had they had a pattern on them that were so ripped that they looked more white than blue. A trainer that was blind in one eye and didn't look like he won many fights was training the best of the best to fight the better.

“Nice to see you again, Techno.” The man remarked. The sarcasm in his voice is obvious. Phil turned to Techno, the shock on his face even more obvious. 

“Quackity?! Why are you our trainer?!” Techno said, getting up and into a fight position. What had happened between the two? Had… had Techno given him that scar?

“Because I'm the best trainer in our ranks, ever since you did this” Quackity said, pointing to the scar on his face. “I've been training and training to get back to the rank I had before I was blinded and I've finally done it. They want you to train more vigorously and I was the one to volunteer.” He explained, keeping eye contact with Techno the entire time.

“And I’d do it again, but this time I'll actually kill you.” Techno said, reaching for the knife in his belt. However the second he tried, Quackity had gotten out his shield and his proper sword. It was a material Phil had never seen before, but the purple tint told Phil it was stronger than his measly knife.

Phil grabbed Tecno’s arm with the knife. He whispered something in his ear, and Techno put the knife back. Quackity put his shield back across his shoulder and back but didn’t put away his sword.

“Fine then. Where are we training?” Techno asked, lowering his arms and crossing them. Phil let go of his arm and Quackity opened the door again.

“Follow me.” He said, a hint of joy in his voice.

It was quite a long walk and by the end of it Phil’s legs hurt alot. The white walls gave Phil a sense of dread, how such a pristine white was housing such dark things. On the way there, Techno had attempted to run to a door that looked like an exit. However immediately got caught and they both got put in handcuffs connected to a chain Quackity held. He dragged them through what felt like thousands of hallways. They barely passed any hybrid cages, however the ones they did pass the hybrids inside were passed out; whether that was from an injury or exhaustion was unknown, all of them looked very beat up.

Quakcity stopped at a door to show someone a coin, which Phil assumed was some sort of identification. He led them through the door and locked it behind them.

The room contained very few things. The walls were blood stained and a dark shade of brown instead of the white like the rest of the facility. The ground was a mix of dirt and blood, there seemed to be an equal amount of both; considering how big the room was, that was a terrible sign. There was a glass ceiling, which told Phil that currently it was night. There was a box in the corner on the opposite side of the room, about thirty feet (about 9 meters) away from them. It was closed however Phil had seen a box like this in many training rooms, it was most likely where the weapons were held. 

Quackity unlocked their handcuffs and instructed them to get a weapon from the box in the corner. Techno immediately ran over, Phil followed but a bit more slowly. He tried to avoid stepping on the blood that was all over the floor but with the amount there was, it was inevitable to not step on any. So really he tried to not step in fresh blood.

Phil looked in the box. There were a lot of swords and shields, a few bows and a single crossbow. Three tridents, which when Phil looked had all different kinds of enchantments, while nothing else was enchanted. There were also a few axes, which Phil grabbed one that looked like it had been recently sharpened and was made of iron. Techno grabbed the crossbow, a shield and an axe . He put the arrows for his crossbow in a pouch on his belt and the axe also went on his belt. Phil also grabbed a shield and a regular bow.

Once they grabbed their weapons, they faced Quackity. “I’ll fight the bird first.” He said and Techno moved off to the side. Phil raised his axe and shield, preparing for the fight.

“Three, two, one.” Quackity counted, antagnizly slow. However the second he reached one he immediately shouted: “GO!”

Chapter Text

Quackity immediately went for the attack, slashing at Phil’s shield vigorously. Phil didn’t want to go on offense at all, he had always been a more defensive person so his opponent would be tired out by the time Phil actually attacked. It was a pretty good strategy against humans, however it didn't really work against a majority of hybrids. 

Hybrids adapted to being constantly blocked. Some kept attacking until his shield broke, others moved around his shield to attack. It was much more difficult to go against hybrids for Phil, that’s why he always hated the pit. Because he did so well in training he was put against good fighters but he really struggled in the pit against other hybrids. 

Humans were never the best at adapting to someone who blocked while fighting. They were always so violent and wanted blood as soon as possible so everyone was aggressive. So Phil learned to defend against this and win many of the battles he had against humans.

Quackity’s slashes increasingly got messier and rougher over the next few minutes. He started to get desperate and took out his bow, which Phil took as an opportunity to go for an attack.

Phil slashed at Quackity’s chest, landing a pretty deep hit. In response, Phil got an arrow to the left leg. The two backed off for a second, taking a very quick breath. Phil put his shield back up and broke off the back of the arrow to prevent Quackity from hitting it and making it hurt worse.

The small breath period didn’t last long at all. Quackity had started firing arrows at an alarming quick pace, not letting Phil take down his shield. After a little bit, Phil started backing Quackity against the wall, cautiously taking steps towards him and slowly getting closer and closer. After what felt like an hour, Quackity had been pinned against the wall, bow kicked to the other side of the room, his sword in Phil’s hands and against his neck.

Phil heavily considered just ending Quackity. But he knew any hybrids that murdered their trainers were immediantly executed. So after about a minute, Quackity surrendered and Phil gave him his sword back.

Then, Techno fought Quackity. It was a much quicker fight than his. Both of them were heavy on quick attacks and special moves. But Techno had the advantage, once he had knocked Quackity’s sword out of his hand, he cut his bow in half and put his own already loaded crossbow against his head. Quackity surrendered immediately, not waiting to see if Techno would actually pull the trigger.

Quackity knew that if he gave Techno the chance, he would take it.

Now that the fight’s were finished, Quackity gave them some advice on what they could improve on in their fighting. He immediately told Phil to be less defensive and Techno to be at least somewhat defensive. Then he put them back in handcuffs and took them to the medical wing.

When Phil awoke, his leg felt like it was on fire. True, he had ripped off the end of the arrow, making it effectively harder for the doctors to remove it but he didn’t think it would hurt this much! 

To distract himself from the pain, he decided to try and take in his surroundings.

The walls were pristine white like a majority of the facility. There were beds lining the walls, which Phil counted the ones he could see to pass the time. There were fifty in total and of those fifty, twenty three were occupied. It looked like there was another section of the room judging by the wall seemingly ending, however Phil couldn’t see anything besides the section of the room he was in. Not like he wanted to, where Phil assumed there was another room multiple screams constantly came from it before eventually it went eerily quiet.

The next few days he was resting before he was thrown into training again. Apparently the arrow Quackity had shot was dangerously close to a vain and it took awhile for the doctors to make sure that Phil was fine to start training again and not immediately die. Phil wishes they wouldn’t have, a quick and somewhat painless death would be much better than what he would have to experience in the pit.

He, Techno and Quackity spent hours training before going to the medical wing. Day and night for a week training, then the weekend they were in the medical wing. 

The day of the fight was creeping up on them slowly, closer and closer. August nineteenth, the day he would probably die. He liked to refer to it as his death day, Techno and Quackity did not find it amusing.

Five days before, Quackity had just instructed them to rest and eat well, their training had ended. Phil’s wing clamps were removed and he was put inside of what looked like a greenhouse, but less exotic plants and more just a chunk of outside.

The ground was actually grass for once, Phil quickly laid down in the middle of the room. It had been forever since he had seen proper light. Butterflies flew around the room, as did a few birds. He quickly identified a crow, which immediately landed on his shoulder when he made a small chirping noise. 
   

Phil laid on the grass for about thirty minutes before he decided to stretch his wings. He started off slow, staying on the ground and slowly flapping them. They were quite cramped but that quickly worked itself out as he moved them. He worked his way up, starting to hover slightly to make sure that his wings could still hold him. 

Eventually, after about an entire day he was flying all over the enclosure. It felt nice, the fast wind flying past his face with the birds following him and having to dodge the few trees that were in the room. While dodging, a squirrel jumped onto his back and just stayed there while he flew. Surprisingly, it didn’t claw at Phil at all, the squirrel just sat there, enjoying the flight. 

He landed as the sky dimmed, putting the squirrel back in the tree and let the crow fly back to a taller tree in the dome. He laid back in the grass, falling asleep, feeling relaxed for the first time since he got here.

For once, it felt like home.

Chapter Text

Over the next three days, he just made sure to stretch his wings and properly use them before the fight. 

On the eighteenth, Phil was properly groomed. His wings were preened and washed, he got proper fighting clothes which consisted of a dark green undershirt, a black coat-like overshirt, black trousers and a olive green belt with many places to attach weapons. They also gave him a scabbard, one held an axe and the other held a sword. Usually he would have arrows on his back but there was a place for those on his belt.

After he was dressed up and given his weapons, an enchanted iron sword and an axe that was made out of another material he hadn’t seen before. About a hundred arrows and a bow, then a few short range weapons like daggers and knives. He was handcuffed, his wings restrained again and was taken onto a plane.

It wasn’t a very long trip, only about three hours but when they landed it didn’t look pretty.

The ground was a mix of dirt and sand, it felt like a hundred degrees in his outfit and it was high noon on the nineteenth. There weren’t any cities or villages in sight, only flat plains for what looked like miles. 

He was put back in handcuffs and was led across the wasteland for what felt like days. Techno didn’t seem to enjoy it either, constantly trying to kick whoever got near him and whoever was holding his handcuffs were constantly switched out because Techno kept attacking them. By him doing that, it made the trip seem so much longer and by the time they arrived, it was sunset.

They arrived at a giant dome looking arena, with what looked like millions of seats surrounding what looked like a fighting area. On either side, there were two entrances. One was for humans to get into the stands and the other was an iron box that held the hybrids before they entered the arena. 

He and Techno were escorted into one of the boxes, their handcuffs and Phil’s wing restraints removed before the door was locked behind them.

To the humans credit, the box was very big, probably big enough to hold at least three giants in one box. But it was far too dark for Phil’s liking, there was only one light source in the room which was the slight cracks in the door that opened to the arena. Which didn’t even give off light until morning, as it was night when they were locked in.

Not like either of them cared, Techno kept bouncing around to warm up his legs and Phil would flap his wings to make sure they didn’t fall asleep periodically. The two also sparred, which usually ended in both of them laying on the floor exhausted but refusing to sleep.

Once it hit morning, Phil heard the thousands of voices of humans flooding into the stands. A human came into the box and told them they had about ten minutes to prepare before the fight.

Of course Phil did not prepare, he just panicked and overthought everything. Would Scott actually fight them? What would Techno do? Techno was a fighter, he’d try to murder Scott, who would come out ontop between the two? What would he do if one of them died? No, don’t think about death, that just makes everything worse.

As the stands quieted down, Phil’s anxiety rose. Then he heard the announcement that gave a slight bit of his, Techni’s and Scott’s background before they would open the gate.

“In box one, we have the famed Technoblade!” A loud cheer from the crowd. “The only good bunny hybrid fighter!” A slight clap, not as loud as the cheer but definitely not quiet. “The other hybrid in the box is the famous Angel of Death!” A giant cheer, whoops and claps. “A hybrid famous for winning fights then escaping, we’ll hope that changes today!” A laugh from the crowd and more cheering and clapping. “And in box two, we have the most powerful hybrid in the world,” a slight pause, Phil and Techno covered their ears. “A starborne!” Even though his ears were covered, he still heard the complete chaos of the crowd, completely freaking out. It felt like an hour before they finally stopped cheering, but Phil wished it would’ve been longer. 

“Now for the infamous countdown, feel free to join in!” The announcer said, Phil and Techno moved closer to the door.

“Ten, nine, eight,” just breathe, it’ll be fine. “Seven, six, five,” Phil took out his sword. “Four, three, two,” His breath hitched, Phil nearly dropped his sword. “One,” Oh no. “GO!”

The massive door opened, letting Techno and Phil enter the arena. Sword in hand, Phil walked in after Techno. He was prepared to see his opponent, but Scott was nowhere to be seen. Had he already escaped?

Phil believed that until he heard a very loud scream from the box opposite him. He saw a flash of purple from the darkness and another scream, this time it was more abrupt and short. Another flash of purple and Scott was thrown into the arena, landing face-first into the sand.

It was about a second before he was up and immediately backing himself against the wall. His eyes were wide, but they weren’t the normal purple they were pure white. What? This had never happened before, what on earth? Was this romal for him? Has Scott told him about this before? 

*Flashback*

“So are there any other powers you have?” Phil asked, sitting across from Scott in his bar. Just recently, he had taught Scott a majority of english. He had been learning about his powers all day, and also hoping that no other hybrid entered. Nobody needed to know he had basically a god just casually talking to him at a bar.

“I can… explode? I think that’s the word. But it means I'm about to die, so it’s more of a defense mechanism from the afterlife.  So if anybody is near me when I'm about to die, they go down with me.” Scott explained,  Phil sat in awe, it was like a poisonous animal. They have such bright colors to warn you, you kill them, you die too. Maybe that’s why Scott was such bright colors, as a warning.

“Is there any indication when this will happen?” Phil asked, writing it down in his notebook. He had filled half of it by this point just writing stuff down, Scott’s powers were so intricate that he made sure to write everything down.

“Oh, I think so? I had it happen once but they helped me live. They said my eyes were pure white? Or purple, I can’t remember.” Scott said and Phil wrote that down in his notebook. “Wait, no, purple is just at night. It had to be white.” Scott corrected himself, Phil added the purple thing to another page and erased it from his current page. Pure white eyes, wouldn’t that be terrifying. It sounded like that old tale you were told as a child to make sure they didn’t stay out too late at night, the myth was called Herobrine and he was described as having white eyes.

 “That’s both terrifying and very cool. Is that all your power?” Phil asked, yawning. It was too late for him to be asking more questions, he couldn’t stay up much longer when he had to work in the morning.

“Nope I think that’s it, I hope I got the words right…”

*End of flashback*

Oh no.

Chapter Text

Scott was going to die?! What should Phil do?! Scott never went into detail on how the person saved him, what was Phil supposed to do? What would Phil do? What would Techno do? 

His question was quickly answered, Techno ran towards him.

“Techno no! Get back, he’ll explode!” Phil shouted over the booing crowd. Techno immediately jumped back to Phil’s side. 

“He explodes?!” Techno asked, astonished. His ear slightly drooped, finally realizing that he couldn’t win this fight. 

“Only when he’s about to die, it’ll kill anyone around him and himself.” Phil explained. The booing from the crowd continued to grow, they wanted to see fighting. They wanted blood. But Phil didn’t.

He dropped his sword in the sand, putting his axe and bow with it. He also gave his arrows to Techno, saying to only use them if hunters tried to get into the arena. Once he had all that done, he walked towards Scott.

“NO! GET BACK!” Scott yelled at Phil, his eyes glowing even brighter. His skin was the bright purple it usually was at night, that wasn’t a good sign.

“No. I want to know how to help you, we’re all getting out of this alive.” Phil told him, walking even closer. He was now about twenty feet away, not really daring to get much closer. He was flirting with death and getting any closer would just be walking up to death and asking her to take you to the afterlife.

“YOU CAN’T! GET BACK!” Scott continued to yell, firing a mini star at the sand in front of Phil’s feet. It was effective, Phil flapped his wings to propel him backwards but he immediately flew back to where he was.

He continued to try and talk to Scott, but each time he got more and more anxious about hurting Phil so he would fire tons of mini stars at the sand to keep him away. The crowd got restless, they wanted blood and they wanted it now.

“Phil, when I die I'll explode in the arena. You will run or fly until you are safe. Do you understand?” Scott said, his tone much less anxious and much more serious and demanding. Phil wouldn’t- Phil couldn’t do that! He couldn’t just let someone he had been friends with for so long just die and run away!

“No! I’m gonna get us out of here! I’m not leaving you!” Phil shouted back, once again dodging another mini star Scott fired at the sand in front of him. 

Suddenly, about thirty hunters entered the arena. Techno fired at them, but it only took down some. Phil flew to the ceiling but didn’t take his eyes off the starborne.

“You’ll have to.” Scott said, grabbing his sword. He- he was going to kill himself. 

Phil dove toward him, not caring about the arrows that whizzed past him. Not caring about the hunters yelling at him. Not caring about anything but preventing this.

He made it just in time, ripping the sword out of Scott’s hand and grabbing his arm. He flew back up to the ceiling.

“What are you thinking?!” I’m getting all three of us out of here alive and if that means knocking you out so you don’t kill yourslef so be it. Now,” Phil used Scott’s sword to shatter the glass in the ceiling. It worked and immediately Phil flew out the top and set Scott on the roof. “Stay here.” He ordered and flew back in to get Techno.

More hunters had entered the arena and two of them had a hold of Techno, holding a knife to his neck.

“Bring the starborne back and we spare him.” One of them said, slightly digging the knife into Techno’s neck. 

“Techno kick him!” Phil yelled, diving straight at the hunters. Techno did as instructed, kicking the hunter that held the knife. They were immediately thrown down to the sand. The other hunters tried to take his place but Phil was too quick for them and he grabbed Techno’s free hand.

He flew upwards and out through the glass hole he had shattered earlier. He got shot in the leg right before he made it out but nothing major.

Scott still sat on the roof. His eyes were back to violet normal and he had tears in his eyes. Phil set Techno down on the roof and immediately checked for major injuries.

“Phil you are aware there are still hunters below us right?” Tehno asked, half sarcastically. 

“I’ve noticed.” Phil laughed, grabbing Techno’s and Scott’s hands before flying off the arena.

They flew until it turned to night and there was forest beneath them. Phil gently floated down between the trees. He set the two down on the forest floor, before making sure his arms weren’t completely dead from carrying those two the entire time.

He managed to clear up the blood on Techno’s neck and arms, before removing the arrow in his leg and wrapping it with a piece of fabric he ripped off his jacket.

The entire time, Scott sat there silently. His purple eyes showed no emotion but he had his legs tucked up to his chest.

“Something wrong Scott?” Phil asked, glancing over at him. Techno had already fallen asleep leaning up against a tree. But he had stayed awake, too many things happened today to let him sleep.

“Why did you save me?” Scott asked.

“Because that’s what friends do.”