Chapter Text
They were preparing for a fight.
Technoblade’s cabin was alight and buzzing with activity, warm light shining through the closed crosshatch windows and into the snowy night. Inside, villagers hummed and bottles clinked, chests were opened and closed and opened again. Brewing stands bubbled and steamed, the smell of carrots and sugar and the Nether stuffing the small space. Weapons were laid on a cracked anvil to be sharpened, the grindstone blade was spinning, and an enderchest was left open with some user’s belongings laid out for anyone to see.
Three players inhabited the house, dressed in blue colors and furs. Two were anxious and battle-ready, while the third was leaning with his back to the wall, a wistful smile on his face as he watched the others brew and supply. This was Philza, the eldest, and the only one not involved with any war or conflict— at the moment, at least. He was the one with the tested face and wise eyes, the tired “father figure” of too many to count, the old hand with a young heart. His shoulder-length strawberry blonde hair was buried under a striped bucket hat, a little braid sticking out from just behind his ear.
Technoblade was next, the owner of the cabin. His eyes were hard and his gaze was cold, yet a remnant of something rueful and knowing hid in his generally unreadable expression. His long, pink hair was tied back and decked with a crown, leaving room for the ice-blue cape to flow past his shoulders. He seemed the most stressed, though he tried not to show it, gathering and distributing all of the potions and sharpening his sword with a set jaw.
Tommy was the youngest, a teen, as well as the most rambunctious. He talked in a loud voice with expressive hand gestures, brilliant diamond-blue eyes wide and expressive. While his passion was admirable, his older brother seemed to find him more annoying than anything. The fact that he hadn’t done much to help so far proved it, too. His blonde hair was short and fluffed, his bulky clothes— which were clearly secondhand, from just one look— fell past his hands and boots and billowed out under tightly-strapped netherite armor.
Technoblade sheathed his shining sword after a while and put on gloves with a huff. Heavy pieces of armor clinged to both him and Tommy, an array of colorful potions hanging from a belt at their waists. More weapons— including axes, swords, tridents, and bows— were placed in their own sheaths or hidden in the players’ inventories. They seemed ready for anything, prepared enough to take on as many as the entire server.
“Tommy, is there anything else you need, in terms of equipment?” he asked, the aforementioned teenager already halfway out the doorway. Tommy peeked his head back inside, but kept the spruce door open, allowing snow to blow into the cabin and pile on the floor. Philza watched it and chuckled.
Tommy’s eyes flicked upwards. “Uhm… give me a bit to think.”
“Imagine everyone on the server, and judge based on that,” Phil suggested.
Techno examined himself one last time, every inch of armor and piece of equipment. “We’ve got to make sure we’ve got everything we need. I’ve got weakness arrows— I haven’t made fireworks, but who cares— Orphan Obliterator, I’ve got—”
“Hey, hey, hey!” Tommy ran up to him suddenly, the door slamming loudly behind him, and cutting the draft. “Ooh, I know what I want. Technoblade, can I have the Axe of Peace? The Axe of Peace, I deserve it.”
The older looked him over. His brother’s eyes were wide and pleading, nearly covered with the bright-green turtle shell helmet Techno had given him not too long ago, which Tommy wore without buckling the straps. He clearly wasn’t being serious, but now that Techno really thought about it…
He sighed, turned around and opened his enderchest.
Techno remembered the exact day Tommy had first shown up at his cabin— or, rather, when he discovered the kid was living under his floorboards. Tommy had run from exile with the server admin, and went straight to his brother. His clothes were torn, exposing deathly pale skin and it was a miracle he hadn’t gotten frostbite. Any armor he had on looked ready to snap in half and drop from his body, yet his spirit had somehow improved, and he talked like himself after days around no one but Dream, even through chattering teeth.
He would be lying if he said he hadn’t been worried. When he had last seen Tommy, on his first day in exile, he had been depressed, distraught, and confused. And now that he’d finally escaped from Dream, Tommy acted normal, if not louder and more impassioned than he had been in L’Manberg. It made Techno wonder what the admin had done to him, had told him. Dream was the only person Tommy had been allowed to talk to, and sometimes he insisted the admin was still his friend.
Except, Techno knew he wasn’t. Dream and Tommy were enemies, yet the former had somehow managed to convince Tommy that he was an ally. Fortunately, he’d known better and ran at his first chance, crawling his way from the plains and ocean shore into the center of the Arctic Commune.
Tommy’s face lit up when he pulled the weapon out, his jaw to the floor. The long wooden handle was strong and steady, supporting a heavy, enchanted netherite blade. Techno lifted the axe with ease and stood in front of his teammate with it laid across his palms.
“Tommy, this is a lot of responsibility,” he spoke in a low voice. “Are you sure you’re ready to hold this weapon?”
Tommy blinked. “Wait, you’re act— yes!”
At first, Technoblade had been furious with the teenager after discovering he had hidden in his home, and asked him to leave immediately. Then he thought about it a second time, and came up with a better option that might help the both of them.
“Alright, Tommy, listen here,” he’d said sharply. He forced himself to breathe and softened his voice. “You know, you want your discs back. L’Manberg took everything from you.”
And that was exactly what happened. His country had exiled him. His best friend had been the one to make the choice.
“Those guys? They exiled you, they left you for dead, whatever Dream did to you happened. They took everything from you, and you know what? They tried to take everything from me.”
L’Manberg had made an attempt to execute the Blood God, for his “crimes” against the country. It didn’t work, of course— the only thing they got from it were his weapons and his armor. Which he could get back, easy.
“I’m thinkin’, Tommy, there’s two things we can do here: one, you could get out of my house, you can’t stay here.” He grinned. “Or, we could team up. We could take down L’Manberg, and we could get your discs back.”
As expected, Tommy had been hesitant to take the last deal. He’d agreed to it however, and had proceeded to help Techno in getting his gear back, earn new gear of his own, and plan a surprise attack on L’Manberg in an attempt to retrieve his music discs.
“Well, you know what? In light of your recent achievements, you are worthy.”
Technoblade held the axe out, allowing Tommy to grasp it firmly, and handle it for the first time. He tested the grip, its weight, and even swung a few times at the air, all with a grin that reached his ears. Techno barely, barely regretted it— it was a powerful weapon, and his brother had done so much to prove himself honorable of wielding it.
Philza clapped, and Techno smirked. “You’re worthy. You’re gonna kill so many people with that axe, Tommy. We’ll be causing so much chaos.”
“I’m worthy,” he whispered, before pumping a fist into the air and chanting, “Let’s go! Let’s go!”
Tommy barged back outside of the cabin and into the blizzard, driving Technoblade to follow behind him. Before they got out of earshot, Phil yelled jokingly to them from the porch, “Goodbye, you two, have fun! Don’t kill too many people!”
. . .
The blizzard had shifted into a rainstorm by the time they reached the ocean.
At the other end of the sea was the shore of The Greater Dream SMP, which was right next to where they needed to be. And, since Tommy didn’t own a trident with Riptide, Techno was forced to resist the urge of leaving him in the dust, and travel by boat instead.
It wasn’t thundering, but the wind and rain alone aggravated the ocean enough to annoy them, and they were already running late. The wind roared and the sky was soured with billowing dark clouds. Rain pelted down, distorting the water and violently tossing the boats. Technoblade tightened the grip on his oars. At least he wasn’t riding with Tommy.
For a moment the storm seemed to die down, the wind slowing, but the rain still falling just as hard. Tommy’s boat stopped looking ready to flip, and he rowed harder to catch up with Techno while the water was calm.
He lifted his head. “So, what is the plan?”
Techno only slowed down a little bit, pausing to roll his eyes. “Alright. So, what we’re gonna do is, we’re going to the festival— and, now we don’t actually have that precise of a plan, we’re mostly just seeing if there’s an opportunity to get your discs back,” he stopped to breathe, “or an opportunity to destroy L’Manberg.”
“So, you’re gonna help me?” Tommy asked, eyes lighting up. “You’re actually gonna help me get my discs back?”
Techno hesitated, holding his oars in place. “If I’m able to help you, Tommy, I will.”
Tommy smiled briefly and looked away. “Um, so we’re gonna get my discs back… then what about Tubbo? What if— what if—”
“If we see a chance to kill Tubbo, we can take it.”
“—as long as, ugh. I know Dream was the wrongen. I know he was the wrongen. I know he was bad and stupid.” Tommy spoke it with bite, with malice. Finally, he was seeing clearly, how Dream had manipulated him. Then he stopped. “No, wait, wha— what did you just say about a chance to kill Tubbo? What the heck?”
“I thought— bro, he’s got the disc, how else are you gonna get it?”
“Nononono.” Tommy’s boat hurled over a wave, rocking him suddenly in his seat. “We get the disc off Dream, and then we get the one—”
“Wait, we’re fighting Dream?”
Technoblade chuckled, despite himself. There was no way they could take on Dream, especially not today. Neither of them were even close to prepared for a fight like that, and who was to say he would yield the disc even after his death?
“Wait, wait— Techno, holdup. Tubbo’s not that bad!”
“Tubbo’s pretty bad.”
“Listen to me, listen to me.” Tommy stopped rowing altogether, halting their trip, but his tone was serious. “The thing I know about Tubbo is that he wouldn’t give away the disc. That’s like, the last thing he would do. However, if I get the one off Dream…” he trailed off, moving again.
Techno hoped he was right. Though their relationship was declining at the moment, he knew Tommy and Tubbo had once considered each other best friends. The disc saga had started with the two of them, and he hoped Tubbo wouldn’t give up one of them so easily.
But— and this is where he struggled, where any hope of victory seemed to fall apart.
“You see, the thing is— how are you gonna get— how are you gonna get it from Dream?” Techno asked, gravely. “I’m gonna need a viable plan, because if you want me to fight Dream…”
Tommy scoffed. “Well, I reckon we can take Dream, he’s— me and you. And, it is a festival, mate, I dunno.”
“Hey, you’re the one against Dream, I’m not against Dream.”
“No, We’re a team! The dynamic duo!”
“We’re teaming up against the government,” Technoblade reminded. Land appeared and was moving towards them, an icy taiga, like the one they’d just left. They were getting close.
“And the government has my disc,” Tommy retorted.
Techno sighed. “Look, listen. We can debate this in the future, but my focus right now is on destroying the government, as I’ve said.”
“Mkay. Well, as long as our paths still align to get back the discs, that’s okay.”
They really didn’t, as of that moment, but Techno ignored that. They’d have to wait and see what happened.
“Listen, we’ll head to the festival, it’s fine.”
. . .
“Wait— it’s gone.”
Any anger or confusion from earlier was quickly replaced with a rush of terror. The group was brought to silence, all four of them stood frozen with mouths agape.
The site was a nightmare. The building was blown to shreds, stone and brick in piles at the bottom of the lake, where its foundation used to sit. Wooden planks floated gently on the water. A few fragments of the original walls stuck out, piercing the body of water and pointing to the sky, like grasping, scraping hands.
“It’s all gone!”
“Wait, you’re saying—”
“Tommy did this?”
Dream scowled, dropping his arm from where it was extended towards the ruin. No one had seen him this angry before, this surprised. No one needed to see his eyes to tell— raw fury dripped from his form and voice alone.
“Tommy blew up the Community House,” he spit. “He had to, he’s the only person who would do this! And we were this close to peace!”
Dream’s voice raised as he went on, yet he sounded like he was trying to convince himself.
Tubbo shook his head slowly, calmly, even during the admin’s outburst. “No. We had nothing to do with this, Dream.”
Fundy nodded quickly in reply. “This has nothing to do with us!”
There was a beat of silence, the sound of rushing water filling for background noise. Everything around the wreck was covered in a thick layer of dust, most likely from the explosion itself. The water was muddied and foggy.
He looked over the group. From L’Manberg’s president, Tubbo, to Fundy, to Quackity, then Ranboo. Dream stopped at Ranboo for a moment longer than the rest, eyeing him warily. They were the only five at the wreck at that moment, but more people were showing up at the edges of the lake, and coming closer for a better look.
“You’re telling me you didn’t know at all?” he asked.
A few blocks away, on the Prime Path, hidden from any eyes— was Tommy and Technoblade. They’d downed invis potions a few minutes ago, and now they were here.
Nothing had gone as planned. Instead of celebrating a festival, Dream had shown up to yell about the bad news. The Community House was gone, and he was blaming Tommy.
Techno placed a hand he couldn’t see on a shoulder next to him, one he knew for certain was Tommy’s. He gripped it threateningly, and heard the teen turn to him.
“Did you do this?” he whispered sharply.
This was serious, it could change all of their plans and turn them in the other direction. Tommy didn’t reply.
Techno tightened his grip, and felt him flinch. “Tommy, this is bad.”
“It was worth it, okay?” came the whispered answer.
The server admin took a deep breath, as if genuinely trying to calm down. “Alright, this is what needs to happen,” he told L’Manberg. “He needs to pay for this. He can’t just— listen, this is terrorism! This is the worst thing to happen to the server. This is the oldest building on the entire server.”
Tubbo ran a hand over his face. “I just can’t believe he would do this.”
“But we’re getting— I don’t get it, what affiliates us to him?” Quackity whined. “Why do we have to suffer for his actions?”
“Yeah, exactly!” Fundy replied.
Ranboo and Fundy looked more worried and afraid than anything, however, even in such a horrifying situation— because they knew they had, at one point, associated with Tommy and Technoblade. Even if it wasn’t their faults, they were the reason Techno had his armor and weapons back. On separate occasions, they were pressured— threatened, to return them. They knew Tommy had been in the SMP. They knew he’d teamed with Techno.
Tubbo had seen Tommy around too, once, though he continued to deny it. Either he didn’t count that one time and was defending him, in disbelief that he had actually blown up the Community House, or he was lying.
“Because Tubbo is the President, and Tubbo has the disc,” was Dream’s answer.
“But how is that—”
“Aren’t you supposed to be the one who’s watching him?” Ranboo asked.
Tubbo cocked his head. “You’re to enforce his exile, Dream, how does this come down on us?”
“How am I meant to enforce his exile, if I don’t have the disc?”
The look on every L’Manberg citizen was enough to reveal their complete and utter confusion. In Techno’s eyes, it was easy to see how desperate Dream was being. He seemed genuinely shocked, angry, and his way of channeling that was in the opportunity of gaining Tommy’s last disc.
“You have one of them, do you not?”
“I have one of them,” Dream argued. “I need both.”
Tubbo stepped back, taking a moment to process everything. “You need… both.”
Punz’s voice chirped in from above. The man was leaning over a remnant of the second floor, in all of his armored glory, with a trident in hand. “The disc needs to be handed over and burned, right now.” He sounded mad, too.
Dream nodded. “Yeah, Punz has been around, Punz knows.” He looked up, and laughed. “Look, everyone’s here. Callahan’s even here! Callahan’s even here to see the destruction.”
The admin was right, more people had climbed to the second floor to witness from above. Everyone looked distressed, though some eyes were more broken than others. These included Bad, Awesamdude, Sapnap, and Callahan, a server moderator, who had all been there at the beginning of the SMP— others were Punz and Ponk, and more were coming.
“This doesn’t have anything to do with L’Manberg!” Ranboo argued.
“This isn’t our fault, we didn’t do this!”
“Fine. You’re right, you’re right, I won’t blame you,” the admin assured. “But I need the disc.”
“What?”
Technoblade reached to grab Tommy— but didn’t feel anything. He waved around the air for a bit, looked around, and promptly had a stroke. Tommy couldn’t have left his spot for the Community House, did he? Surely, he hadn’t headed towards the massive group of people.
Techno got up and inched closer to the building. What was he thinking, this was Tommy he was talking about. He walked the path connecting the house to the shore, and hearing footsteps behind him, turned around. Eret and Puffy had shown up as well, and Jack, HBomb, and Niki were right behind them. In a moment of panic, he hid behind a wooden pillar, thanking himself for bringing invisibility potions.
“There must be another way, surely,” the President responded.
Dream shook his head. “There’s not another way, Tubbo.”
“But, I don’t— is one not enough?”
“No! Because if you have one, he’ll always have faith that he can just get it back. If you want nothing to do with Tommy, then have nothing to do with Tommy, don’t associate yourself by having one of the most prized possessions on the server.” Dream sighed. “Listen, I need the disc.”
Suddenly, a new voice interrupted, spiking worse fear into Technoblade than if Tubbo had actually given up the disc.
“No!” Tommy contended. “No, no, li— you can’t—”
Techno looked up, and saw Tommy’s turtle helmet floating over a set of armor— he’d walked right into the middle of them, and was stood in front of Dream.
“What?”
“Uh… Tommy?”
Everything had gone dead silent, shock evident on every face that could be seen. Tommy’s form quivered as he was put at the center of attention, the hot sun beating down on him from the top of the sky.
Dream’s lip curled, and he shifted to holding his sword— his hands shaking suddenly, clearly not from fear, but rage.
“Tommy, you’ve messed up,” was all he said. “Look, Tubbo’s gonna give me the disc—”
“No, no, Dream. Does this look like something I would do?”
By now, Technoblade had donned every piece of equipment that he could and appeared at Tommy’s side. Even if he already loomed over many of the people surrounding them, he hadn’t been acknowledged. He figured they’d act differently when he wasn’t invisible.
“YES!”
Everybody started screaming at Tommy at once, and he recoiled, stepping the tiniest bit behind Techno.
He cleared his throat. “Guys, Tommy didn’t do this, okay?” At the sound of Techno’s all-too familiar, gravelly voice, the area quickly went quiet again. Every L’Manberg citizen seemed to take a step back. “Tommy didn’t do this.”
Fundy started, the fox’s ears flattening against his head. “Th-that’s Techno? Why are you both here?” Suddenly the two strangers looked a lot more threatening.
“Oh, okay, Technoblade,” Dream scoffed instead.
“Okay, listen, listen,” Techno raised his hands, one of them still holding his sword. “I know I’m probably not the most reliable person— but Tommy wouldn’t lie to me, he said he didn’t do it.”
A half-truth, Tommy didn’t lie. Ironic.
“He lied about burning George’s house!” the admin snapped.
“I—”
“He would lie to you, but not to me.”
Dream’s temper seemed to spike again. With the mask still covering his face, it was beginning to feel unsettling. “He is the biggest liar on the server,” he flared. “Techno, I don’t think this even involves you.”
Techno stopped himself from rolling his eyes. “I didn’t want to be involved either, but I suppose that’s what’s happened.”
Tubbo chirped in suddenly. His scopes were on Tommy.
“I mean, even the fact that you’re here kind of proves the point— you’re not where you’re supposed to be.”
“Yeah, yeah, well we thought we could— we thought we—”
Technoblade turned to him. “You’re out here, accusing him of crimes, and you’re saying just defending himself makes him guilty?”
“He’s not even supposed to be here!” Dream retorted. “Tubbo, just give me the disc.”
Tubbo hesitated, biting his lip. “I’m… I just…”
The President rested his hand on the enderchest beside them, paused, then lifted the lid. At first glance, Techno could see riches, weapons, mob skulls… and a collection of music discs. Tubbo’s eyes skimmed over to those.
Tommy jumped, taking sudden action and pushing Tubbo away from the chest. The lid slammed shut. “Woah, woah, stop it!” he chided. “Stop— you’re not gonna give him the disc, are you?”
“You’ve literally proven, time and time again, that you can’t be trusted!”
“Wha— no, no, no, but you can’t give him the disc, because as soon as we take him down, y’know, we’ll be fine— we’ll be back!”
Tommy sounded pleading, his voice taking an emotional turn. It worried Techno for a second. He actually missed Tubbo, he was still attached.
But the President’s eyes went cold, and he shook his head. “I don’t think that’s an option anymore.”
Tommy blinked, taken aback. Technoblade subtly shifted his splash potions to the front of his inventory, to be ready at a moment’s notice. He didn’t see this heading in a good direction.
Tommy sighed, gaze on his feet. He gripped the axe he was holding tightly, but he was yet to raise it. “You spend all this time… you do all these speeches talking about how I was a bad friend.” His voice hitched. “H-how I was the one going out and being reckless, and doing things, and being bad… but, you wouldn’t even stick up for me, right at my lowest point. Do— do you know what he did to me in exile?”
Tubbo was quiet for a second. Tommy turned Dream’s direction briefly, in what anyone could guess was a glare.
“No!” Tubbo snapped. “I thought you died!”
“You don’t. You don’t!” Tommy yelled. “And you didn’t come and see me, and you still don’t care I’m here. You know what?” He lowered his voice. “You’re the bad friend.”
“Yeah, well at least— Tommy, this has your name written all over it!”
“It— it wasn’t me!”
“You are acting exactly as you acted when you burnt down George’s house.”
Tommy growled. “I don’t need to prove myself to you, trust me! For once in your life, Tubbo, trust me!”
“I did trust you, once.” Tubbo replied. He took a step back, nearer to the chest. “The first time this happened. I don’t want to make the same mistake twice.”
He turned completely to the enderchest, before lifting the lock and opening it again. Tubbo pulled out the disc— Mellohi, the record with the purple-and-white striped middle— and looked Tommy dead in the eyes, or where he thought they were, with it in his hand.
“Don’t you dare.”
Tommy’s axe was shaking now. Techno was praying that he used it.
The entire area seemed to hold its breath, Dream included. People balancing on platforms far away looked around at the water, a few dead salmon floating sadly on the surface. The ones that were closer stuck to the edge of the largest platform, where Tommy and everyone else was, watching with wide eyes. Tubbo switched the disc for his own axe, and with his other hand, lifted a shield.
“You betrayed me,” Tommy spoke. “You know that, right? You betrayed me!”
“I didn’t betray you, you betrayed everything you had built!”
“You betrayed me! This is what Wil— y’know what, you got your axe up?”
Tubbo lifted the shield to his chin and nodded. “Mm hmm.”
Techno started, realizing the situation. “Tommy.” He pulled out his crossbow, pointing it at nearly every person surrounding them. “There’s like thirty people here, Tommy. Whatever you decide—”
Tommy jumped, finally raising the Axe of Peace before lodging its blade in Tubbo’s shield. Tubbo swung back and skimmed his cheek.
“—do it wisely, ohh, we’re going in.”
Techno raised his arm and splashed five bottles on himself and Tommy— swiftness, fire resistance, strength, regeneration, and potion of the turtle master— he used it for the resistance. Then he pulled out his sword and went for the crowd.
“Woah, woah—”
“Don’t actually, wai— don’t actually!”
Distantly, he could hear Ranboo muttering as the hybrid left the scene. Even a L’Manberg citizen, he was the only one who Technoblade would spare.
Meanwhile, Tommy and Tubbo were trading hits that hurt, whether they landed or not. Tubbo switched to his sword mid-swing and used that instead, forcing Tommy to pull out a shield. The attack eventually sent him into the lake, like most of Techno’s other victims.
His helmet broke through the surface. “You betrayed me!” he gasped.
“No, you failed the nation!” Tubbo shouted from the platform.
“Everything, everything! This is what Wilbur wanted. He wanted you to betray everyone, to forget what was right!”
“You gave up on L’Manberg!” Tubbo retaliated. “You betrayed everyone when you went off and teamed with the very person that blew up the nation!”
Tommy pulled himself out of the water and knocked Tubbo back with his weapon. “You left me to die!”
He downed a golden apple before Tubbo could knock him back. The sound of a diamond sword thundered against much better, heavier netherite armor.
“You teamed up with the very pers—”
“Tubbo, the discs!” Their weapons collided, bringing them to a temporary deadlock as Tommy shouted. “The discs were worth more than you ever were.”
Tubbo blinked, drawn thoroughly speechless. Even Technoblade’s background noise was nearly silenced, the people stopping in their tracks to process what Tommy had just claimed. Dream, the single person untouched, turned his head curiously to them.
“What…?” someone in the back whispered.
“Oh no.”
Wide, powder-blue eyes locked on Tommy, Tubbo shook his head slightly, his mouth opening and closing, his grip on his sword trembling. “Did you mean…?”
Tommy’s invisibility finally wore off. His face was scrunched into a scowl, his expression serious and angry. For a small, small moment he seemed to realize what he’d said, but...
His eyes hardened and he strengthened his grasp, knocking Tubbo down in one swift movement with the axe. The President barely caught himself with the palms of his hands, staring up at Tommy in astonishment. In fear.
Tommy took the moment to look around, to breathe, after Techno began to take the others’ attentions for a bit longer. Some were on the shore. Most were in the water and bolting, and the last few unfortunate ones were being attacked by Technoblade— namely Fundy.
Dream hadn’t left, but he was watching the others, his back to Tommy and Tubbo. Tommy saw Technoblade glance at him briefly at a moment of break, then he pulled out an enderpearl and teleported to the wreck.
“Tommy…?” he asked hesitantly. He was panting, but desperately trying to hide it. Techno’s soaked coat and cape dripped and puddled at his feet, and his hands held his weapon and a stack of more enderpearls.
The teen took a breath, arms shaking.
“Tommy, pearl. I can cover your escape,” Techno offered, keeping his voice low. Dream, however, had turned to look at them, as well as a couple from the distance.
Vaguely, Tommy noted that Dream looked… distressed, and torn. Every time he even glanced Tommy’s direction, he tensed, yet he hadn’t moved. It was as if he wanted to fight, but knew he couldn’t— or shouldn’t. Tommy used to know that feeling all too well, but with the normally unshaken admin, it was much more disturbing.
Tommy swallowed. “Are we…”
“Regrouping, yes. Let’s go.”
Tubbo had gotten up by now, but was immediately escorted away from the platform by Quackity. As Tommy tossed his pearl in the direction of the server Nether portal, Technoblade turned on his heel to everybody else, and raised his sword again.
As Tommy ran through the Nether, Techno covered him in a fight with a majority of the server. And even after the Blood God had left himself, Dream and the rest of L’Manberg stuck around.
Dream hadn’t finished.
He narrowed his scopes on the President again, walking up to the younger on the Prime Path, one hand extended out, expectantly. “Well, Tubbo? You saw what Tommy did here, he doesn’t care about anything, anything but the discs. Tubbo, you need to give it to me.”
Tubbo restrained himself from stepping back. His cabinet was behind him, and he shared a glance with Quackity. The Secretary of State shook his head firmly.
Turning back to Dream, he truly looked like he wanted to curl in on himself. But Tubbo stood his ground.
“I know Tommy gave me the disc, but it holds too much power to just give away. And what he’s done definitely won’t get him Mellohi from me anymore.” Tubbo shook his head, sighing. “I’m not giving up the disc, Dream.”
Dream’s hand tightened into a fist, before he retracted it quickly.
“Then we talk about the Community House,” he replied. “It was obviously Tommy’s doing, but he couldn’t have done something like this alone, and Techno wouldn’t risk this.” Then the admin’s gaze shifted slowly over Tubbo’s head, to someone behind him. “Let’s talk, Tubbo. I have a good idea I know who it was.”