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.
——