I stumbled as Quackity shoved me through the doorway into Phil's house. Phil caught me from falling, helping me stand up straight again.

"What the hell, Quackity!" I shouted, marching up to him.

Fundy smirked, while Ranboo and Tubbo gave me apologetic looks from behind their leader. There was a soft click as Fundy locked the door and stood guard in front of it.

"Y/n, we need you to cooperate-"

"I cooperated all the way here! You're lucky I didn't want to accidentally hurt Ran or Tubbo. If not, you would be back in that forest with your feet rooted to the ground." Quackity waved away my threat, unbothered.

Phil stepped up behind me, his wings and long gray sleeve brushing my arm. "Quackity, why does she have to be here? Let her go, she doesn't know anything."

Although I appreciated Phil's attempts to get me out of this mess, I didn't know how I felt after my talk with Wilbur. He had practically abandoned his kids, not being much better than Schlatt.

For now, I brushed off my questions about his parenting and turned back to Quackity. "No, Phil. We know both of you have hints as to where Technoblade is. Somebody," His eyes darted to Fundy, "saw Technoblade give y/n a compass after the war. We have reason to believe it leads to his location."

Crap.

I scoffed. "Even if I did have something that pointed to his whereabouts, I wouldn't give it to you."

"Y/n, this is the best for L'manberg-"

"My friendships matter more than a government!" I shouted. From behind Quackity, I saw Ranboo smile, siding with me.

"We demand you to tell us where Technoblade is." Quackity looked between Phil and me, expectantly.

Both of us stayed quiet, glancing at each other.

Neither of us would give up his location, even if I knew it. I hadn't checked on the compass in a while, but it hadn't been glowing a week ago.

"Phil, you're a citizen of L'manberg, we're trying to get justice for our country. You should care about this as much as we care about it," Quackity said.

"I'm not going to tell you," Phil said, standing his ground. "He's changed his ways. He's not the same person."

"This is not a request, it is a demand. Tell us where he is."

"Do it for the country," Fundy said, staring his grandfather down. Clearly, the two were not on the best terms.

"First off, I don't have any loyalty to this country, I'm pretty new here." Phil gestured to me. "Second off, Y/n doesn't even live here. Also, Techno and I go way back, he's my son."

My eyes flashed to Tubbo for a moment. I know Schlatt was his real father, but up until Phil left, he had been the one who raised him.

Maybe Techno really was the favorite.

"I'm your grandson-"

"I don't care. My grandson is wearing a blood-covered apron, trying to find his uncle to kill him."

Fundy was silent after that, stunned.

Quackity stepped back in, continuing, "Well, we tried to do this the nice way." He jutted his head towards the chests at my side. "Search them."

Without hesitance, I stepped in front of the chests. Phil did the same in front of another set of chests. I didn't know what they were looking for, but it was probably valuable.

Tubbo and Fundy went for the chests behind Phil, while Ranboo and Quackity came to mine. I planted my feet, staring Quackity down.

"Y/n, move," Quackity said.

"No." I gripped my sword, ready to pull it out.

He tried to duck past me, but I stepped into his path, not worried about Ranboo. He remained where he was, watching.

"Quackity, look!" Fundy shouted, clutching something.

He handed the item to his leader, and I fought hard not to tense.

They had found a compass that would lead to Techno's base. It was identical to my own, but this one was lit up with a soft purple glow.

"Shit," Phil cursed.

A wicked smile grew on Quackity's face. His eyes were mad with power, as he looked at the two of us. "Let's go boys, we have some justice to bring."

-

I tried to escape out the door while the group left, but I was shoved back into the house, the door locking. They had looped copper chains across the handles outside, leaving my magic useless.

Phil and I brainstormed ways to get out and how to save Techno. If we couldn't get out of the house in time, we at least needed a plan to stop them from killing him.

The main problem was the thin anklet that was wrapped around Phil's ankle, a red light glowing on it. If he tried to leave his house, it would shock him and alert Quackity.

What felt like hours passed, when in reality it was about twenty minutes. I was up in the loft, trying to find a way through the roof.

"Y/n, they're back!" I scrambled back down the ladder, squeezing next to Phil to look out the small window. "...And they have him."

For the first time in a couple of months, I saw my old friend being escorted up into a cage made of iron bars. His pink hair had gotten slightly longer, brushing past his shoulders in a curled ponytail. His red cape was becoming wet as rain began to fall.

"Phil, I have an idea, but I think I would only be able to escape," I said.

He didn't hesitate to answer me, "Do it. I'll be fine."

I ushered him behind me, taking one last look out at the execution stand.

Quackity had moved over to a lever, which would release the anvil far above onto Techno's head. His hand hovered, his speech coming to an end.

I looked away, the world beyond the window becoming blurry as I focused on the glass. I brought my hand up and quickly shoved it behind me.

A sharp howl came, followed by glass shattering, as I broke the window with the force of my wind. The glass flew towards me from the effort of my powers, cutting my arms in small scrapes.

I paid no attention to the little cuts or Phil, running at the window as fast as I could in the small space. The world flew past me, my body shooting out of the broken window when I dove through it.

Shouts arose when my feet hit the solid ground of spruce planks. I instantly pulled my sword free but stopped mid-step.

Punz was distracting the group, fighting and placing TnT. The group was running around, trying to destroy the explosives, oblivious to me. The man had come out of nowhere.

Before they could notice me, I ran up to the cage, stopping below it.

Techno, who had been brought to his knees and was watching the fighting, looked at me in surprise. "Y/n?"

The rain was becoming increasingly harder, and crackles began above the two of us. Rain dripped off his crown as he looked down at me.

"Do you have a way out of here?" My voice was hurried, my body tensing as someone came up behind me. Before I turned, I saw him nod and pull something out of his cloak.

The fighting was still occurring in the background, but now Quackity had run over to me. He was breathing heavily with his sword in hand.

"Y/n, step away from him."

I smirked at him, bending my knees slightly. "Make me."

I sprung at him, my sword going up in a wide arc. At the last moment, Quackity raised his own sword to stop my blow. Magic thrummed in my weapon, wrapping around my body.

I leaned in over our swords, smiling maliciously at Quackity. His brows were drawn together in the effort to hold off my sword. "You aren't going anywhere near him."

In response, he just gritted his teeth and pulled back, raising his sword for another strike.

Metal on metal rang in my ears, my instincts taking over with the sound. Despite the slippery floor, my movements were smooth and agile, while Quackity stumbled a bit in his netherite armor.

His swings weren't as skilled as mine, giving me the advantage. I ducked one of his swings, aiming low for his legs.

"Big Q, pull the lever!" Fundy shouted, somewhere behind us.

Quackity didn't hesitate, spinning off of me and running towards the lever. My sword missed his legs by inches, catching his black pants.

Instead of following him, I put away my sword and raised both of my hands, lightning snapping at my fingertips. My adrenaline was alive with power.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Techno raise the item to the sky, staring at me, waiting. For a second, I swore I saw pride in his eyes.

Lightning stayed in one of my hands, while I released it in the other hand and swiped it to the right, hard.

In a matter of seconds, the anvil was released, the iron bars were blown out on one side from my wind, and lightning streaked down towards Techno.

The electricity wrapped around the item in his hand, the totem of undying coming to life with my magic.

The anvil brushed Techno's pink hair and crown, before disappearing in a burst of green and yellow shards. The totem had done its job and disintegrated.

"NO!" Quackity shouted, beginning to sprint at Techno. But Punz stepped into his path, the rest of the group following.

I spotted Ranboo off to the side, hovering near Phil's door. He pressed himself against the wall, under the roof's edge to stay away from the rain. His lips moved as if he were talking to Phil through the broken window.

My feet were hitting the ground hard as I ran in the same direction as Techno, blindly following him. He had pushed his way through the open bars and was racing towards something.

"Techno, we need to get out of here before they come after us!" I shouted above the downpour.

I realized, as I was running after my friend, that I was now a wanted criminal. I had helped L'manberg's most wanted man escape, and was running with him.

"This way, I see Carl," He said over his shoulder.

I glanced past my friend, seeing the brown horse sheltered in a cave.

His lead was held by ... Dream.

Everything in me screamed to turn around and run in the other direction. I had just escaped this man, and now I was running directly towards him.

I couldn't tell if it was my mind or if I was actually seeing it, but red threads flashed around his fingertips, reaching towards me. When I blinked, they disappeared.

"I'll get Carl from Dream, and we can escape in the tunnels," Techno said, his cape billowing out behind him. He smirked over his shoulder. "Good to see you again, y/n."

I rolled my eyes, smiling at my friend despite the circumstances. "You too, Tech."

Even if it meant escaping from Dream again, I wouldn't leave Techno. So I pushed against my instincts and kept running towards him.

Techno stopped in front of the man, glaring at him. I stopped slightly behind him, my grip on my sword tight. "What's going on here?"

Dream's mask faced me, a stare burning through it. I could feel Dream's eyes on me as he spoke to Techno, "Head down there."

He handed over the lead to Techno and pointed into the tunnel. "There's a chest with your stuff. I'll distract them, but you'll be in debt."

Techno nodded and tugged Carl after him down into the tunnel. I stared at Dream, for a moment, and I could feel him looking back at me.

Techno looked over his shoulder, waiting. "You coming, y/n?"

I stared at the smiley face and smiled viciously. Below the mask, Dream's lips pulled into a thin line while I turned to Techno. "Yeah, right behind you."

I didn't look back as we raced down the tunnel, leaving Dream to run and fight with Punz.

My running came to a screeching halt a second later.

We had run into a small room at the end of the tunnel, the walls made of black stone, with halls leading off of it in every direction. There were scratches on the ground.

The Final Control Room.

I glanced at the tunnel where I had hidden, anxiety racing while I waited for the button to be pressed.

The chests remained with the signs with each citizen's name on them. Techno handed me Carl's lead while he sorted through the chests, quickly pulling on iron armor and finding his netherite pickaxe.

I ignored the ghosts of the past and ran up to the left behind ender chest, tossing potions to Techno. I quickly pulled on my netherite armor and grabbed the now-lit compass.

The armor felt like a second skin, its weight slightly comforting. The dark color of the covering danced with a purple blanket of the strongest enchantments.

Before I went with Techno, I had one more stop to make. "Techno, I'll meet you at your base-"

"What the hell are you two doing here?" The two of us whirled, Techno clutching a pickaxe while I held my sword. I pushed Carl behind me as my eyes landed on Quackity.

"How the hell did that anvil not kill you?!" Anger flooded Quackity's voice, his stance taut.

Techno chuckled amusingly, smiling at the other like he was dumb. "Did you really think that you could kill me that easily?"

I could feel the tension spike in the small room, stabbing the air. I needed to get past Quackity if I wanted to get to my other destination.

"You know what? I've tried convincing you guys that government was not the answer. I tried convincing you guys by fighting alongside you as brothers, and you just cast me aside! And when I went into hiding, when I swore off violence, you hunted me down!"

I could hear the hurt in my friend's voice as he spoke. His own brother had turned on him for the sake of L'manberg.

"You hurt my friends!" Techno threw a hand at me.

For the first time, I could feel the trickle of blood on my arms from the glass. And surprisingly, no nauseating feeling followed the sticky feel of blood since the first nightmares with Schlatt.

"I'm going to kill you." Quackity practically growled it.

This only made Techno smirk more. "Do you think you're enough to kill me? Even unarmed, with iron armor, do you really think you could take me?"

I already knew the answer to that. Techno was one of the most powerful people I had met, and he was unstoppable in battle, even if he was at the disadvantage.

But Quackity didn't seem to realize that, because he just raised his sword. "I do."

Techno made eye contact with me, nodding slightly. He raised his pickaxe, not looking at me again before lunging at Quackity.

Carl barely fit in the large tunnel beyond the room, but I shoved him into it, pressing a gentle hand to his nose. He would wait there until Techno was done.

I ran past the two, sprinting for the distant Nether portal, that would take me to my final destination before Techno's base.

As I ran out of the tunnel, I heard weapons clash and Techno's yell.

"I have a pickaxe, and I'll put it through your teeth, Quackity!"

~~~~

that line is so good lol

as promised, here is the next part haha, and the next one will come out on Sunday!

Or maybe sooner😏

if I made an Instagram account, would you all follow it? You could ask me questions about the books or myself on there, and I would maybe post drawings and fan art! i just rly want a platform outside of wattpad where I can connect with you!

lmk in the comments and have a wonderful day! stay hydrated and safe!