Chapter Text
Technoblade will never forget his first kill.
He had been traveling for days without break, and he naively thought to set up camp. He was a couple of days out from reaching the village, and no one would attack him on the road, right? He never should have let his guard down. Techno had been on the verge of falling asleep when a knife was pressed to his back.
Techno helplessly watches anything the bandits deem useless get thrown into the campfire.
“Guys, look, the pig is squealing!” The man behind him laughs. The air is humid, thick, and hard to breathe, even more so with an arm around his neck. The heat is reminiscent of the Nether. “It’s kinda cute, don’t you think?” The suffocating scent of putrid mud, sweat, and smoke float about. It makes his eyes tear up. “I had a pig for a pet, once. He bit me so I turned ‘im into bacon.”
he dies first
mmm bacon
“Stop playing with your food and just kill it already,” another barks. He tosses Techno’s small coin pouch between his hands. “It’s just a damn monster. No one’s gonna come lookin’ for it.”
“Alright, alright. Say night-night, piggy.” Techno watches the knife lift into the air. No. He can’t die. Not like this.
kill them.
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
Techno bites down on the man’s arm.
His canines break past the skin. He hears a scream. The grip around his neck slackens. Techno sees the slim opening and takes it. He snarls and pounces on his opponent using what little weight and strength he had. Techno moves on instinct, and snatches the man’s thin neck between his teeth, digging in and letting the metallic substance fill his mouth. He jerks his head back, tearing a chunk of flesh from his throat along with him.
His overgrown claws dig into the man’s skin and drag down his chest, watching in satisfaction as blood pools out. Red covers his hands. This is nothing like slaughtering small animals to appease the voices. This works.
KILL THEM KILL THEM KILL THEM ALL
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
The bandit below him is dead. His glossy eyes staring toward the skin in permanent fear. Techno shakily stands breathing hard through his nose. It took a lot of energy. He's now purely fueled by adrenaline. The other bandits flinch when he turns to them, grabbing a knife off the grass. His lips twitch into a grin. The blood on his skin is warm. He- they want more.
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
The aftermath is downright revolting. On the rain-soaked ground, scattered, lay one of the man’s guts, bloody and covered in mud. The other has his throat slit open in a puddle of blood.
When Techno comes to his senses he hunches over and vomits. He can't get the taste of blood out of his mouth. Tears well up in his eyes, but he doesn’t cry. He doesn’t deserve to. Mud, rain, and blood mix into a disgusting puddle below him showing his beaten reflection.
Monster.
The voices hum pleasantly in his mind. Proud. Appreciative. He has always longed for validation just not like this.
Phantom hands stroke his shoulders and pet through his hair telling him what a good job he did, how the Blood God accepts his offering, that they deserved it. He knows they aren't real. Maybe that just makes it all worse.
“I never wanted this…” Techno croaks. He bites down on his lip swallowing his sobs. He doesn’t deserve to cry. Not after everything. Could he even return home after this? Could he dare look at Phil and Wilbur in the eye? “I just-”
but youre ours now
and we love you! we’re never letting go!
He cast a withering glance to the corpses. Maybe he should have let them kill him. Perhaps the afterlife would have proven a kinder fate.
──────────
The keys jingle as they clang against his dingy room. Already? Techno groggily blinks away the sleep and lifts his head. He lazily watches the door built of iron bars swing open with creaking hinges.
“Get up, Blade, it’s time.” The man tosses a diamond sword and a shield over to Techno. He feels like he should know his name.
he isnt important just another person to kill
ooo lets call him steve! thats a funny name
Techno pulls a cape over his shoulders, red like blood, followed by a crown indicating his champion status. He distantly wonders if he ever felt proud of wearing the crown. He remembers kneeling before the gamemaster after tearing through his enemies appearing on the other side victorious. The cheers had been invigorating, but had he ever been proud?
It didn’t matter, in the end. The Blood God’s hunger is sated, and that’s all that matters.
Before stepping out Techo grabs the pig mask off his desk.
(“Tada!” Wilbur grins up at him. The pig mask in his hands is a carbon copy of the pig mobs they discovered upon entering this new world. It was an odd experience, to say the least. They spent a good day trying to communicate with the creatures. Blank white eyes stare back at him. He runs his fingers over the pink fuzzy material. “D’you like it? I made a matching one for myself- see?” A matching boar mask is held beside Wilbur’s face. His golden eyes crinkle upwards and his ears wiggle happily. “That way we can blend in with the humans! I saw some kids do this! You'd never get anywhere without me, admit it." )
The straps are tight around his head and the mask snugly fits over his face. Techno is surprised it has survived so long. A long time ago, Techno would have been braiding his hair, but it had been chopped off in a fight. Now only a thin, messy braid remains on the right side of his face to hold an emerald. For good luck. The rest of his hair barely reaches his shoulders now. The man steps out of the way for Techno to pass.
Even hundreds of blocks down, he can hear the crowds’ cheer for bloodshed. But nothing is louder than the ravenous roar in his head.
FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
BLOOD BLOOD BLOOD
It’s a mantra Techno is all too familiar with. The voices begin to shape his thoughts until the line separating the two is blurred. The walk is familiar as he is escorted to a closed gate leading into the main Colosseum.
A series of trumpets announces his arrival followed by boisterous cheers. Techno groans and rubs his head then his sensitive ears. They do love their theatrics, don’t they?
“And here is our reigning champion!”
He can never understand how one can gain enjoyment out of bloodshed. Although, that train of thought makes him a hypocrite considering where he stood now; an illegal server on the edge of the universe with the largest Colosseum to date. It was here that the first bloodsport was held before it became popularized and baby-proofed.
Here, death is permanent. Upon entering the server respawn stars are confiscated before you're sent on your merry way.
Techno looks around the crowd disinterestedly. Misshapen pig masks, banners with his name, people dressed in poor imitations of his outfit. It’s things Techno has seen hundreds of times over but can never get used to. Everyone knew his name on the server. The infamous Technoblade- merciless and ruthless to all. He easily climbed the ranks of popularity and became the Colosseum’s center point.
Once a month, the hosts would treat their customers with a gauntlet featuring their favorite champion. It was something different in the routine of gladiator against gladiator.
The gauntlet starts the same as always; herds of mobs are released from their cages sent to Techno’s waiting blade. An appetizer. Once Techno kills the initial wave the volunteer challengers come out. Adventurers looking for glory and fame. People with a debt to settle hoping for easy gold. The main course. Then, when the blood dripping off his blade stills and the screams stop, the execution. The dessert.
As the champion of the Colosseum, it was Techno’s honor to kill whatever person was thrown before his feet. He didn’t know if they were innocent or not. They were always hybrids. They always stared at him in fear. It was the audience’s favorite, and the Blood God’s. They particularly enjoyed when they would beg for mercy before Techno chopped their head off.
He wonders if those people would still cheer his name if they were here in the pit with him.
MORE MORE MORE KILL MORE WE DEMAND MORE
BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD TECHNOBLADE NEVER DIES BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD GOD
It always ends with Techno panting, blood smeared across his face and hands, his name being cheered into the heavens, his body feeling warm. But he doesn’t enjoy the mindless killing. He never has. It’s just a means to an end.
The mobs this time around were different than the usual zombies and skeletons. Techno had hesitated when a horde of zombie pigmen were pushed out. He had left the Nether before the sickness spread but heard the stories. Now, after seeing the husks, Techno was glad he never returned. That doesn’t mean he wants to kill them.
(“Wait- please!” He had to get up. His brother needed him. He struggles in the net panic filling his veins. Wilbur trips over a root scrambling away from the adventurer. “Please- we’re just like you- we aren’t mobs-!” He watches in horror as the axe is brought down. His scream is cut off sharply. And the adventurers laugh. This couldn’t be happening.
Wilbur falls to his knees, eyes glossing over never to shine again, forever staring at him for help. When his body falls over onto the mud, he finds his voice.
“WILBUR!”)
“Now comes our grand finale!”
A large gate on the other side begins to open. Two handlers come out dragging someone by iron chains. Must be a real tough one then. Techno might actually have some fun. The crowd erupts into thunderous applause as a tall figure steps into the sunlight streaming down from the open roof. The chains are dropped and the gate slams shut behind him.
Everything stops.
He looks like a teenager. He assumes him to be an enderman hybrid of sorts; Techno has never seen one in person. He heard they were extremely rare. An iron muzzle is wrapped tightly around his head sealing his jaw shut. The teen presses his back to the gate too scared to make noise. His mismatched eyes are wide in terror. The pupils are thinner than paper. This was wrong. It has never been a kid before. How could a kid deserve a public execution?
KILL HIM MONSTER MONSTER KILL KILL SPILL HIS BLOOD
NO LET HIM LIVE!! LET LIVE!!
The voices have never been split on a decision like this before.
Techno has seen those eyes before. This kid has already given up on life, exhausted of all his options, the world has beaten him down.
It makes Techno falter.
“Blade!” The announcer shouts. “End its pitiful life! Be the hero you were born to be!” The crowd roars their agreements. Rotten food is tossed from the seats at the boy who helplessly covers himself with his arms. On any other occasion, Techno may have found himself laughing, drunk off adrenaline and bloodlust. Now he just feels sick.
A glint of metal catches Techno’s attention.
LEAVE HIM LET HIM DIE KILL KILL BLOOD FOR THE BLOOD
SAVE HIM WATER BAD PROTECT
Before his brain can catch up with his body, Techno grabs the boy by the arm and yanks him forward. From behind the muzzle he lets out muffled shouts of surprise. He keeps the grip on his wrist tight so he can’t step back.
Techno watches a bucket of water get poured onto the spot the kid had been standing at moments ago. The boy has stopped struggling. He’s staring at the damp spot on the sand. That amount in his current state easily could have killed him. He would have become nothing more than a charred corpse left to bathe in the sun.
WHAT ARE YOU DOING?? LET HIM DIE!! THE BLOOD GOD DEMANDS IT
YES YES SAVE S AVE GOOD POG
(“There is nothing here for us…” Wilbur says softly. He stares at the portal they watched the travelers disappear through. It’s their key out of the wastes. Maybe they could be accepted there. Were the people there kinder? “I say we go. We’ll be alright- as long as we have each other.” His hand is squeezed. With a deep breath, he follows his brother into the portal, allowing the purple glow to envelop him.)
In those panicked eyes, he sees himself. Forced into a life he never chose just waiting for it all to end. Just what horrors has he gone through to make him give up on it all?
“Kid-” Techno watches the boy’s head snap over. Why is he doing this? He has a good thing going here- the blood god is fed and Techno doesn’t have to feel guilt- yet he’s risking it all for a kid he just met. But the way he’s staring at him as if he’s handed him the world consumes Techno with the overwhelming feeling that he had to fix this.
He had to save this kid. He refused to be a puppet any longer.
“Do you want to escape with me?”