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Just some golden apples. That was all he needed. All he’d come into the Nether for
Needless to say, he got more than he came for.
“I just want a couple!” he shouted, dodging the swing of a heavy gold axe. “Honestly, I’m not even after the gold! Just some apples, carrots, and maybe some magma cream!” His cries fell on rage-deaf ears as arrows flew past him and axes and swords threatened to cut off any stray body part.
He couldn’t remember how he’d gotten into the bastion in the first place and the 10s of Piglins and Hoglins weren’t helping him. He ducked into a room hoping to regain some sort of composure, closing the door much harder than he would have liked. There was a soft gasp and a whimper from the corner of the room. Bad turned to see two children? huddled together. One was obviously Piglin, tusks peeking out from his lower jaw, just barely inching over his upper lip, slightly pointed ears peeking out from bright pink hair, and slightly pink skin. But his eyes. They were bright red and staring at Bad with the intensity of a thousand suns. He had an arm wrapped protectively around a much smaller child with pitch black hair that cascaded around their shoulders in messy, tangled curls. Their face was tucked into the small Piglin’s chest so Bad couldn’t see them. He could tell he’d startled both kids, though, so he crouched down to be more at their level.
“Hi there.” He kept his voice light and soft. “My name is BadBoyHalo. What’s yours?”
The Piglin spoke first, puffing out his chest and sitting up a bit straighter. "My name’s Technoblade. I’m a Piglin and I’ll kill you if you hurt him,” he growled out, pulling the ravenet closer.
“I won't hurt him. I won’t hurt either of you. Does he have a name?”
“Pandas. He’s my brother.”
Bad sat down. “He’s your brother?”
Techno nodded defensively. “I was there when he was born. That makes us brothers. And I take care of him.”
“Well, that’s very brave of you, Techno.”
“Heh?”
“I said it’s very brave to take care of Pandas the way you do. You’re a good brother.
“I know.” A beat. “Thank you.”
Bad smiled. “Would it be alright if I helped you? You can say no, but a bastion isn’t really a place for young ones to stay in.”
“I’m not young. I’m seven. Pandas is three, so he needs more help,” Techno countered.
“He does. And I have a nice cozy house in the Overworld that you two can stay in so I can take care of you,” Bad offered.
“Father said the Overworld is dangerous for people like us.”
“It can be.”
“He said they’d steal me for gold and kill Pandas for Blaze rods.”
“I promise I won’t let that happen to you, Techno. Can I talk to Father?" Bad asked, hoping to get to why the muffin someone would tell two small children such horror stories.
To his chagrin, Techno shook his head. “They ate him,” he explained. “Didn’t like a human having children with two mobs.”
“You and Pandas.”
“Mhm. Pandas is a Blaze and I’m a Piglin, but we’re still brothers and nothing is going to change that,” Techno declared.
“Of course not. And I’m not trying to change that. I’m offering my help to you and your brother. If you want.”
“Help? If I want?”
“Yes. Children, and creatures in general need help. But they have to want that help. I won’t force you into anything, but I think it’d be a lot safer for you two in the Overworld with me,” Bad told him.
Techno was silent for a moment before he looked up, red eyes meeting Bad’s black ones.
“Do you know why you never see many baby Blazes?”
“No. Why?”
Because they don’t respawn like adults do. They just die off. And they don’t produce spare rods like adults do. Blazes have so many babies and they just die off so easily because humans never think to look for the differences in them.”
“Oh?” Bad kept his voice light, signalling the boy to go on.
“Baby Blazes have one less rod than adults because they haven’t matured enough to get their spare rod. Their flames are also more red then an adult and they’re a bit smaller. But humans don’t pay attention to that. They just take what they want and don't care about others,” Techno explained, getting angrier and angrier, jotting the boy in his arms and making him cry.
Techno tried to soothe him, rocking him back and forth. It was no use, though, because Pandas kept sobbing, squirming on Technos lap. Bad opened his inventory and pulled out an empty bottle, a bucket of milk, and a bucket of lava. He poured the milk into the battle and slowly heated it up with the lava so the glass wouldn’t explode. He saw Techno’s red eyes staring at him in confusion, but he just hummed and kept working. Once the milk started to bubble, Bad took it out of the lave and mixed it around, adding some sugar.
“Can I see him, please? I promise I’ll give him back,” Bad requested, setting aside the bottle and holding out his arms.
Techno looked skeptical, but the toddler’s cries grew in pitch so Techno handed him over, never taking his eyes off of his brother. Bad gently took Pandas into his arms and positioned the bottle at his lips. Pandas immediately suckled, drinking the sweet milk inside. Once the bottle was empty, he snuggled up into Bad’s chest, tiny hands fisted in the man’s cloak.
“He likes you. I suppose we’ll go to your ‘nice, cozy house’ where I will trust you to keep us safe.” Techno decided, pushing pink hair out of his eyes.
“I appreciate your trust. I’m going to stand up with Pandas, I’m not taking him and we’re not leaving without you, just getting ready.” Bad carefully stood up, making sure not to jostle the sleeping toddler in his arms.
Techno nodded, watching Bad’s every movement until the man was fully standing, rocking his brother back and forth gently. Techno stood up, grabbinghis knapsack and the gold sword he used to fend off his enemies. He didn’t think he;d need to use it against this ‘BadBoyHalo’ fellow.
Keep it out in case he doesn’t cooperate.
Or if he steals our Pandas.
“Heh?” Techno looked around, wondering where those voices came from.
“Are you okay, Techno?” Bad asked, looking at him with concern.
Techno straightened, squaring his shoulders to show no fear. “I’m fine, thank you. We should leave before they find you. They don’t take kindly to strangers. And they want to kill my Pandas because he’s not a Piglin and he’s not fully a Blaze. They hate humans because humans don’t know how to keep their hands to themselves.”
“Sometimes they can’t and it’s quite unfortunate. I’m sorry that happens. It’s not fair to mobs, is it?” Bad opened the door and peaked out, looking to check for Piglins, Hoglins, or Brutes. When he saw the hallway was clear, he stepped out carefully, pulling the hood of his cloak over his horns and sticking to the shadows.
There wasn’t a lot he could do to hide, he was a 6’5” demon with black skin and glowing eyes amongst 5’2” Piglins with pink skin and black eyes. But he could camouflage himself in the dark areas of the bastion. So he stuck to them, hiding Pandas in his clock near his rapidly beating heart. Technoblade was walking next to him, knapsack on his back and sword in his hand. They were almost out of the bastion when Pandas started to cry from under Bad’s cloak, alerting the guards.
Technoblade looked up at Bad, glancing, at the guards, who were drawing their weapons.
“Run.” He felt a hand drop into his and pull him out of the bastion and along the bridge, not knowing where they were going until Bad stopped in some type of archway and there was a swirling purple light. Techno felt nauseous and dizzy, unable to orient himself as he was gently pulled out of the thing and into a too-bright area filled with things Techno had only seen in books or heard about from Father. This must be the Overworld.
It’s colorful?
It’s disgusting.
Techno shook his head to clear the dizziness, but it didn’t look like that was gonna work for Pandas. The toddler whined and then spit up on Bad’s cloak. Techno cringed, ready to step in and take Pandas’s beating or scolding, but then Bad chuckled, gently rocking the toddler and looking through his inventory.
“Guess I should’ve seen that coming,” he noted, grabbing out a handkerchief and wiping Pandas’s mouth and his cloak. “Skeppy threw up on me the first time he went through the portal.”
“Skeppy?”
“He’s my…friend. C’mon,” Bad extended his hand to Techno. “Let’s get you home.”
Techno took Bad's hand and let the man lead him to a small cottage a short walk away. It was nice, better than the dirty room he and Pandas had been staying in. It was small, two bedrooms, a bathroom, a joint kitchen-dining area, a family room with a TV and a small couch. All in all, it would make a nice place to live.
“Would you like a tour?” Bad asked, bringing Techno out of his thoughts.
Techno shrugged. Even though he could see everything in the house, he figured having a tour would give him and Pandas familiarity.
“Yes, please.”
Bad smiled gently and led them around. “This is where we put our shoes and coats.” Bad toed off his shoes and hung up his cloak on the rack. Techno copied, bending down to unzip his boots and place them neatly next to Bad’s. Pandas whined, kicking his feet. Bad set him down on the bench and got to work on one of his boots and Techno knelt down and started on the other one. Pandas giggled and clapped his hands. Once the shoes were off and set neatly next to everything, he got up, stumbling a bit before grabbing Techno’s hand and toddling along on their tour.
“This is the kitchen where we have all of our meals. I make my muffins in there, too. Here’s the family room. Skeppy and Ioften watch movies in here when we have time. Here’s our bedroom. We both stay here most times unless Skeppy comes home late from mining, then he stays in the guest room, which will be your room now. And last but not least, here’s the bathroom. You can use it whenever you need or want and I'll get you both toothbrushes, towels, and washcloths.
“We can take baths?” Techno asked, looking at the large tub against the wall.
“Yes. Would you like one now? It looks like it's been a while since you’ve had one.”
Techno nodded. He had only been given one bath before Father had died and then he had to use a scratchy, cold cloth and Pandas would get hurt with that.
“Pandas has to have lava for his baths, Mr. Bad. He’ll scald with water,” Techno told the man.
“Alright. Would you like to bathe first? So I can make your towels?”
Techno nodded, shuffling into the bathroom. Pandas watched him go, whimpering slightly. Bad bounced him, going to the living room to grab his supplies.
“Don’t worry, Pandas. Your brother will be back. He’ll always be here,” Bad assured.
***
Sap, um, Technoblade died earlier. Dream escaped and Techno was trying to stop him, but Dream killed him. I’m so sorry. I know you and Techno were…close. I haven’t told anyone else yet. Thought you should be the first to know. Let me know when you get this message. Don’t do anything rash.
His communicator sat melted on the edge of the bed, but it didn’t matter. Sapnap had read the message from Philza enough to memorize it.
Close.
Fucking close.
They were brothers . Though Techno refused to acknowledge it when they got older and started hanging around different crowds.
Close.
Fuck their distance from each other.
Fuck the fact that Techno was the only family Sapnap had left since Bad and Skeppy had been corrupted by the Egg.
Fuck being close, they were brothers.
Fuck the stupid, empty house they grew up in that he was currently in, laying in the bed in his their old room.
Fuck everything.
Sapnap let out a torrent of flames, from the hand not resting under his head, mentally plotting. None of their “closeness” mattered anymore. Technoblade was dead and Sapnap had one mission.
He was going to kill Dream.