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Chapter Text

'Are you sure you want to disguise yourself?' came the familiar robotic voice command. 'If you want to proceed with this action, please tap on the–'

He didn't even let the whole sentence play as he smashed the "yes" button for what felt like the hundredth time on the holographic screen in front of him.

'Process in action, please wait.'

With a yawn, he did as he was told, impatiently cracking his knuckles as he waited.

'Action complete! You are now switched to an alt account named–!'

'I wish there was a faster way of doing this' the man murmured to himself as he brought up the transparent screen in front of him again and began typing in yet another command.

'Visiting im_a_squid_kid's island! This will take a moment…'

The world went dark as he was teleported—something that was notorious for making new players feel nauseous—and soon enough he was greeted with the familiar scenery he was looking for.

'Dammit, I forgot to check if he was here!' he said as he began flying over the island at a fast pace. 'Guess I have to be quick.'

He made some curves in the air, seemingly searching for something, while he pulled out his camera. He began commentating in an almost silly manner, hoping he would find it funny enough to leave it in the video.

'Day 35 of being undercover in Squid's guild.' he flew around the farms, knowing the place like the back of his hand. 'He occasionally farms pumpkins instead of potatoes as I learned from his streams. I came to check it out and sure enough, he expanded his pumpkin patch with two more rows. Is he plotting something? Or is he just trying to distract me?'

After half an hour of switching the camera on and off to try to cut down on editing time, he decided he had seen everything he needed to and gracefully landed near Squid's pixel art lobby. While letting out a tired groan, he looked up at the "#2 in potato" mark in the corner of the giant canvas, letting himself relax by the sight of it.

He turned on the recording one more time, smirking as he said his last words:

'At least he hasn't realized I invaded his guild yet! What a casual!'

'Techno?'

The one in question got surprised by the suddenly called out name and spun around, shocked to see Squid himself standing in front of him with a questioning look on his face.

'Damn, I knew I should've turned on my voice changer!' he mentally scolded himself but he soothed his nerves with the fact that his viewers will be happy with the extra footage he managed to record.

'Techno? Hello?' he snapped out of his thoughts when he heard the man in front repeat his name with the even more confused addition this time.

'Yooo, Squid!' he tried to play it off and act casual but the other's unimpressed shift of expression told him that it wasn't worth the effort.

The great pig has been caught.

'Why are you nicked? And why are you in a purple… uhh dinosaur… outfit… thing?' the squid asked, then he noticed Techno furiously trying to hide something which only raised more questions. 'And what is that behind your back? Wait, are you timing my minions with a stopwatch again?'

'Are you still not over that? It only happened once!' the pig pointed it out, fumbling with his camera out of Squid's (and unfortunately his) sight. When he thought he managed to place it into the convenient back pocket the ridiculous outfit possessed, he let go of it, bringing his hands out for the other to see. 'Also, I have nothing in my hands! See?'

'You mean the thing that just dropped to the void behind you, wasn't yours?'

Techno looked over his shoulder, only to catch a glimpse of his item, disappearing into nothing. 'When did he remove the floor there?! Bruuuh.'

'Nope. Never seen it.' he answered with a dead-serious expression, amused by the irritated nose exhale he received.

'I don't believe it.'

'Oh, c'mon!' Techno was grinning now as he detached the outfit's head—getting a lung full of fresh air he desperate needed—all while holding a laugh at the tip of his tongue. 'Would I lie to you?'

The squid seemed to finally lose his patience as he pinched the space between his now closed eyes, trying to ignore a headache that was coming to the surface by the pig's behavior.

'As much as I hate that you're here and what you're wearing!' Techno only rolled his eyes at that statement which Squid ignored as he continued. 'I wanted to… ask you something.'

'You know, I don't think that's a very wise decision on your part, considering our circumstances.' the king raised an eyebrow when Squid only grumbled instead of the usual banter. 'Is it like a favor or?'

Was it all the hours spent farming or did the other seem desperate?

'Yeah, something like that' the squid answered as Techno watched him awkwardly step from one foot to the other.

'Desperate is it then' he decided in his head as he watched the other get even more uncomfortable somehow.

'Well, this doesn't sound shady at all!' Techno joked but when he noticed how the other was trying his hardest to avoid eye contact, his handful of confusion was immediately replaced by the sensation of curiosity. 'Is it something illegal?' he whispered as he leaned closer to him.

'Jesus! No! ' the squid yelled and strolled back a few steps, surprised by the sudden closeness. 'You know what? Just forget it!'

'What's his problem?' Techno wondered as he watched the other fly away from him. When there was no sign of him returning, he shrugged, deciding to pocket the squid's weird behavior, blaming it on something along the lines of going insane and lack of sleep.

Or maybe, the combination of both.

Suddenly, the same robotic voice that he was so impatient with not too long ago cut through the air, ringing in his ears in an almost mocking way.

'You have no permission to be on this island.'

'Are you kidding me?!' he managed to cry out before he was teleported away back to his island. 'Damn you Squid! I have to buy ANOTHER alt now!' he let out an annoyed huff and typed in the command that let him change back into his usual self: bright purple was replaced with a red robe, shiny crown, and a set of pig ears and he stretched, his joints popping as he did.

No matter what anyone said, Hypixel's way of disguising yourself was never as smooth as it sounded.

Taking a quick glance at the time on his phone, he decided that it was time to run his usual "maintenance rounds" around the island which consisted of checking up on his current team, stalking the auction house, and, of course, preparing everything for optimal potato farming.

This process only took around a few hours—not counting the half-hour lunch break he took with some of his guild members—which he was surprised about since it usually took him way longer.

'I'm on a roll today!' he announced happily as he looked over all of his double chests worth of items they managed to gather up: hundreds of catalyst, not to mention a few extra materials to trade for rabbit pets—he would feel proud if his goons haven't been doing this for almost a year now.

Unexpectedly, he felt his phone vibrate in his pocket and he got it, surprised when he saw a familiar name blinking relentlessly on the screen.

'Hallo!' he greeted as he sat down on a chest nearby, deciding to talk to his friend in peace.

'Hey mate!' Phil greeted him in his usual way when they got in a call together. He sounded cheerful with a tinge of faint tiredness pulling at his voice. 'Just calling to ask you not to stab me and Wilbur as soon as you see us tomorrow!'

'What?' Techno asked, confused by the other's words.

'Umm…' Phil said then proceeded to let out a nervous chuckle. 'The tournament? That's tomorrow?'

Silence followed as Techno tried to recall what the other was talking about. It couldn't have been MCC, they competed in that two weeks ago; he remembered it well, considering that they lost and Squid leaped on the chance to smack talk him on his stream.

'The what now?' Techno asked, skeptical by his friend's remarks. 'Is this a prank?'

'No?' Phil asked and Techno could swear he heard the other putting all the pieces together in his head. 'Techno, have you been on Twitter recently? Maybe checked your emails?'

'Phil, the last time I checked my emails, I was still in college and even then I was ignoring the majority of the things they sent me.' he admitted. 'After I got an invitation to the women's lacrosse team, I knew it just wasn't worth my time!'

Phil laughed at the other end, making Techno realize how out of touch he has been with some of his friends. He knew they understood that he was busy but he still wished they could hang out more often.

'I would say to go on Twitter but…' he sighed, not even trying to explain why that was a horrible idea. 'Just ask Squidkid, mate.'

'Squid? What does he have to do with this?' he thought out loud, not expecting any kind of answer. 'Was that why he was acting so... weird?'

'What happened?' Phil asked, dragging Techno out of his monologue.

'He was trying to ask for a favor?' the pig explained. 'I dunno man, it was like… He was trying to ask me out.'

'I mean… I guess we can put it that way!' Phil stalled, laughing as an expected "What?!" left the other's mouth.

'Phil.' Techno called out to his friend, hearing the faint sound of giggling in the background. 'Phil?!'

'Talk to you tomorrow, dude. Hope to see you at the tournament tomorrow! Good luck! Byeee!'

And with that, he hung up.

'He was totally talking to Wilbur just now!' Techno thought as he moved the phone away from his ear, a quick laugh escaping from his lips. 'Those guys never change' saying this out loud was all he really needed to get him fired up. He knew they would try to screw him over as soon as they saw each other in this tournament he was apparently signed up for.

Or they would run away screaming.

Actually, he was more used to the second option.

'Huh, Squid is streaming.' he thought as he noticed the stream notification that was sent 10 minutes ago. 'I was so caught up in work that I didn't realize. And Phil did say to talk to him so…'

He tapped on the notification and just as he expected, Squid's potato farm appeared on the screen. His chat as usual was spammed with "You will never defeat Technoblade!" and he (as always) responded with a snarky "Of course I will!"

'Good to know he's still as determined as I am!' the pig smiled to himself and was just about to type something in chat when a donation popped up on the screen.

'Just wanted to wish you and Techno good luck for the tournament. I hope you guys win!' Squid quickly read the text out loud then immediately answered. 'Have you seen him in Minecraft Monday? That man is crazy! He could probably win the whole tournament without me being his teammate!'

'Heh?!'

The "question" left his mouth unintentionally as memories of tweets and comments popped up before his eyes, asking them to team together if it was possible. He actually considered it a long time ago but wasn't sure if it was a good idea or not. He just really liked the "enemies" set up going on between them: Squid vs Pig, potato against potato, and all that seemed to resonate with people and create good entertainment.

'I mean, I was about to be disqualified because my teammate said he couldn't make it.' Squid spoke up again, continuing his previous thought process. 'I promised them to find a new teammate, but they asked me if I would be down to team with Techno since we ugh… know each other, I guess.'

'Never thought he would say yes' Techno spoke to himself as he got up to fly to a more shadowed area so he could see his screen better.

'And obviously, I said no. I specifically told them that he has ruined my life and bullied me on several occasions.'

'Wow. Okay, that's…' the pig muttered as he finally landed, already feeling much better from being out of the piercing sun. '...right. I guess that's fair.'

While Techno was figuring out what to write in chat, Squid proceeded to go to his storage area, stopping at a pillar full of chests to empty out his backpack that was filled to the brim with potatoes. As he was doing this repetitive job, he continued ranting, as if he needed to get the rest of the story out of his chest. 'But in the end, I couldn't find a teammate and I accepted their proposal. They asked me to tell him since they couldn't get a hold of him. They figured I'll see him more than anyone at the moment.' he flew up a couple of chests, almost running out of potatoes to put in them. 'To be fair, I still can't believe I'm gonna be teaming with him. HIM! My arch-nemesis! Out of all people!'

Techno snickered to himself as he sat down on the dark forest grass—that was surprisingly cool considering the hot weather—deciding to finally type the sentence he had come up with.

As soon as he hit the little send arrow the people in chat went crazy spamming his name, saying hi, and writing LMFAOs. He watched the chaos unfold before his eyes and waited for Squid to notice his message.

'Ah, speak of the devil… or pig.' he said as he scrolled back up to see what the other sent. 'It's a shame I didn't ask you out directly?!' he read out loud and quickly came up with a comeback. 'Um, hello, I tried? The so-called "favor"? Earlier this day, remember?' he laughed but quickly regretted what he just said as his chat started filling up with KappaPrides. 'Great! Can you ruin my life even more?' he sighed as he flew back to his farm. 'And no. That's not an invitation or a challenge! We're already in a war, Bozo!'

Techno clicked his tongue in disappointment as he deleted a "Wanna play some skywars?" message that he knew would've surely annoyed the other. He watched Squid play before during his streams, amused how tremendously frustrated he got after only a few rounds.

But he did have to admit, the "kid" wasn't bad with the bow. He could really land some precise shots, even without warming up much.

He stared at his phone for a few seconds, before he closed Twitch and opened up Discord. There were a few unread messages which he quickly sorted through; Wilbur sent him a picture of Phil and him together, possibly eating lunch with the caption "SOUP" and nothing else. Tommy also sent him a photo of him and Jack Manifold in matching outfits, posing with fake diamond swords with the message "Coming to get you Blade!4!4!!".

An amused roll of an eye later, he responded with a simple "Okay", knowing well how much that was going to annoy the other.

He glossed over a few other names, before finally giving up and searching up Squid's profile. Their chat box was empty, which was sort of ridiculous if he thought about it—they've been consensually stalking each other for months now, but it seemed neither had the idea to actually message something to the other.

Not like it mattered. This was war after all.

Laying down on the grass cooled him further as he pressed the "start voice call" button and waited, waited…

'I could get used to this' he murmured as the dark leaves sluggishly began to dance in the gentle summer breeze above him. He felt like dozing off (how long has it been since he took a break from farming anyways?) as he waited even more.

'You need to warn me before doing that!' was the first thing Squid greeted him with and Techno opened his eyes up with an amused half-smile. He could hear some muttering about settings—close to a swear word of some kind—which made him guess the other was having some technical difficulties, hence the long delay in accepting the call. 'What's gotten into you? We never talk on Discord!'

'You banned my alt, I'm here for the compensation money!' the pig shot back after a few seconds, only hoping the squid managed to fix the issue at hand.

'Oh, hell no! Get in my face, get banned! These are the rules!'

Techno could hear shuffling in the background again, followed by a heavy thud and tired breathing.

'Are you taking a break?'

The pig listened more: a frustrated grunt. Wet dirt underneath shoes. The rustling of a bag.

'Not anymore!'

Techno laughed. It was always so easy to poke at him. Make him mad. Annoy him.

He, himself, didn't really understand why he liked doing it.

'Hey, I didn't call to argue!' he snorted, feeling ridiculous for what he was about to ask. 'Are we like, really teaming tomorrow? Or is it just a joke I'm not getting?'

One the other end, the squid's sudden energy came to a halt, followed by unexpected silence before a loud shout almost made Techno go deaf to one ear.

'What do you mean?! Don't tell me you actually didn't know!'

'Of course, I didn't! I've been dedicating all my time to farming and watching anime! No time for Twitter or friends!' saying this he realized how insane he must've sounded but quickly shook it off, knowing that Squid was probably the only one who understood how seriously he took all of this.

'Oh brother…' the other sighed as the realization hit him. 'So you haven't looked into it at all?'

'Nope' Techno replied, feeling some pressure already sneaking upon him. 'I don't even know what the tournament is about.'

Squid let a frustrated groan escape his lips before he replied. 'You're taking a break at the moment, right?'

'Yep'

'Okay, good, my feet are killing me!' he whined as Techno snickered. 'But I swear if you're lying!'

A couple of seconds of shuffling went by—he sat down, Techno guessed—as both began to think of some sort of solution.

'I don't think we could do much in this situation.' Squid finally spoke up, sounding unsure about the whole thing. 'My chat is telling us to go practice but to be honest with you, I don't think it's worth it.'

'Yeah, same here' the pig agreed. 'Especially because it's you.'

'Woah, okay buddy! Care to explain what THAT is supposed to mean?' Squid's words gave off a seemingly offended tone and for a moment Techno couldn't tell if he was acting or actually upset by the comment.

'You would just call everyone a cheater, get angry at me that I'm not helping, then probably invite me to a bow duel to "Battle it out" ' Techno listed, remembering all the cocky comments Squid shot at his opponents whenever people challenged him. 'Don't even try to object! I stalked your streams long enough to know that I'm right.'

'And all this time you still couldn't buy my cloak?' the other asked, clearly trying to mess with the other. 'This is so sad! Can we get a 100 gifted—?'

Before Squid could finish his sentence, Techno ended the call.

'Should’ve gone on Twitter instead' he murmured, not even believing the words himself as he sat up and opened up said app. 'Let’s see… oh. Well, this was easy!'

Even if he tried to ignore this so-called event it would’ve been impossible since his feed was spammed with it: everyone was excited (he guessed by the sheer amount of fanart that hit his feed), fake smack talks were flying around just to hype up the viewers and after 10 minutes of searching, Techno pretty much knew everything he expected to learn from Squid.

It boiled down to an interesting event with a lot of rules. The most important ones were fortunately easily outlined: they were banned from streaming and instead there was only one stream that was going to broadcast the event, which was going to be only available to the viewers, forbidding the contestants from stream sniping. The fans could also help their favorites by donating helping items with money, that would all go to charity. But, there was a catch! Only a number of items would make it to the players, therefore stopping bigger creators from making the game a "play-to-win" type scenario.

Items were listed with a "rarity" system. The more useful the item, the higher the price—rarer items had a lower chance to be sent to the players, which further nerfed the "millionaires" who would donate their entire life savings to their favorite content creators.

Overall, it seemed pretty fascinating and Techno kinda felt bad for not knowing about it sooner.

Something seemed off though.

There were no indications of what the minigames are supposed to be, nor who were the main creators behind the event. It filled him with a certain kind of unease, but since the co-creators seemed legit (he let out a sigh of relief when he spotted Pikaclicks' and Smajor's name on the long list), he pushed down his worries and glanced at the time, only to be greeted with a notification that showed the following:

FireBreathMan has sent you a message.

Chapter Text

The auction house was still lively, but it always seemed as such, so Techno paid no attention to it, walking past the main portal. Dirt and rocks crunched under his feet as he turned towards the path leading to the Wilderness—the forest grew denser, only a few rays of sunshine were able to push past the leaves and the pig wondered when was the last time he was in this area. Stopping at the crystal clear lake, he glanced at Tia the Fairy, who only stared back at him with empty eyes—he collected all fairy souls a long time ago, so there was no reason to interact with the NPC anymore, unless the Admins decided to scatter more around the world.

Out of habit, he looked towards the direction of the Dark Auction House, pondering if he needed anything from there: an overpriced Flower Minion? Or maybe he forgot to put Growth VI on one of his armor pieces?

Not that he could've got in this time of day anyway. It was way too early for that and he wasn't about to wait around until then.

A tap on his shoulder broke his trail of thoughts and he whipped around, immediately drawing out his sword to defend himself.

'Woah, is that how you greet a friend?'

Techno kept the tip of his sword close to the man's throat, his eyes pierced into TimeDio's. His hands were thrown up next to his head in a defensive position but other than that, he had a shit eating grin plastered across his face, not a hint of fear in his eyes. The pig withdrew his sword, placing it back in his holder with one swift motion as the man lowered his arms, his Santa hat—that he wore all year around—dangling by his movement.

'Damn, you look BEAT!' Dio chuckled as he strolled around the pig like he was some sort of decorative sculpture, taking a good look at his long time guild member. 'Like, more than usual! Did the farming finally get to you?' he asked as he lifted the bottom of Techno's cape and gave it a firm shake.

Dust went flying everywhere, and Dio coughed as he inhaled some of it by accident. Turning around to face the practically dying man, Techno yanked the red fabric out of his hand.

'You should really wash that' Dio breathed between two fits of coughing. Techno only rolled his eyes. 'Hey, Tia, can you fetch me some water?'

The NPC continued to stay silent, and Techno was certain that she didn't even blink anymore at higher level players.

'Heh, classic Tia!' now that Dio managed to catch his breath, Techno decided it was in his best interest to start talking.

'I was training' he simply said, and Dio flashed him a confused glance before the realization hit him.

'Ah, for the tournament, right? Didn't think you would actually participate!' he was shocked for obvious reasons—Techno was very hard to get away from his farm as of recently, even declining to test out new features for Admins. 'Who's your teammate?'

'Hmm, what's in it for me?' Techno answered, making Dio laugh in the process.

'Ooo, I see what you're doing!' Dio made a festive trumpet sound with his mouth as he pulled out a bag, filled with water. A small-sized creature was swimming in it, probably somewhat confused by the sudden "earthquake" it was put under. 'Why do you need this anyway? Are you finally trying to level up fishing?' he held it out, and the pig reached for it only to hold onto air as the other pulled it away from his grasp. 'No, no! Not until I get– Hey!'

Techno (expecting his friend's trickery) quickly pulled out his grappling hook, zooming past Dio while grabbing the bag out of his hand in the process. The other was quick to follow, but Techno pulled a maneuver he didn't expect.

He double jumped.

'You're wearing Spider Boots?!' Dio shouted when he was safely back on the ground, mad about the fact that the other dared to wear an item like that to their meeting.

Techno landed on a sturdy branch, waving with an amused grin when Dio finally managed to spot him between the dense leaves.

'Man, c'mon! How am I supposed to get up there?' Dio whined. 'That's it! I'm jumping into the void with all of our money again!'

Techno watched the man sprint away faster than he had ever seen him run before. He knew he could catch up with him if he really wanted to but the soreness from the training he received just hours ago started to kick in, making his legs feel like lead. He could feel the hard texture of the treebark press into his back as he leaned into it for support, sitting down to just enjoy the scenery he was presented with.

The sun was close to dipping over the horizon, passing orange light through the trees, and casting it onto his face. It warmed him, but it felt nice—it was nothing compared to the heat he endured on the farm around this time of summer.

Farm… The rich soil and the smell of dirt.

Potatoes. They were growing nicely, according to schedule.

He was in the lead. He was sure. And yet, he still kept working harder every day, like the squid could catch up every moment he wasn't farming.

Technoblade
I'm gonna call you soon.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath and relaxed. The smell of fresh amber bothered him and so did the bird that started singing somewhere nearby.

He could see the unnatural blue glow of the holographic screen through his eyelids, as a message popped up before him. He eased his eyes open, already knowing what to expect.

TimeDeo fell into the void. He died and lost 25,000,000 coins!

Chapter Text

'Ugh, I can't stand this heat!' Squid whined out loud, as he refilled his water bottle for the third time, drinking it down with big gulps until he felt sick. With a few words murmured under his breath, he laid down on the cold, quartz floor of his base, deciding to rest before he needed to head back out again.

Summer has come early on the Skyblock server this time around. It was only the first week of June, but it felt like it was in the middle of July. The constant hot weather wasn't doing the best work on Squid's skin, not to mention on the potatoes watering schedule—he had some of the water streams dry out since he forgot to refill them, causing a few of the crops to wilt. It induced a lot of stress and headache (because why couldn't the weather forecast on this damn server be more accurate?!), but he pulled through with a lot of extra work, even grinding at night when the sickening warmth was actually bearable.

Speaking of extra work, he was doing that before agreeing with himself to take a break. After he ended the unexpected call from Techno, one of his viewers asked the squid to a bow duel to unban his main account from chat. When he refused, the man started taunting him, saying he was afraid which (unfortunately) made Squid's ego boil with rage and he fiercely accepted the challenge.

The guy played well, but he ultimately won!... but the "little" sidetrack did cost him about an hour of farming.

'Just one more month...' he thought as he let the cool floor do its magic. 'I'm sure this will only last one more month!'

Squid didn't know how he was certain of this, but he could just feel it. He was so close to the finish line now, and he was sure Techno wasn't far left behind either.

Bzz!

The sound of his phone going off made him groan with agony—just when he was about to fully relax something had to happen!

Tired, he fished his phone out of his pocket, staring at the text he received.

Technoblade
I'm gonna call you soon.

Blinking once, twice, then thrice, he reread the short sentence, dumbfounded when his brain finally let him register the meaning. He sat up so quickly that it made him dizzy to the head, but he couldn't care less at that moment as he typed his response.

im_a_squid_kid
what

For a short while, he received no answer which led him to be even more confused. Did the pig actually take his joking "request" to warn him before calling to heart? And what does he want anyway?

Technoblade
Come to the Wilderness lake.

im_a_squid_kid
why

Technoblade
I have something I want to give you.

Squid's eyes were blown wide by the response, before he furrowed his eyebrows together in an offended manner.

im_a_squid_kid
uhhh
hell NO????
do you think im an idiot??
this is such an obvious trap

Technoblade
Ah, congratulations you got me.
You can claim your reward at Tia the Fairy!
Would you like the coordinates?

im_a_squid_kid
is this about the tournament?
if yes, idc
we already spoke about it

He scoffed when no reply came, standing up and making his way to his farm with angry steps. It felt like the pig was just messing with him at this point, making an excuse to talk to him to drive him up the wall.

'He's just trying to distract me' he thought as he reached for his hoe but he stopped himself mid way, clenching his hand together so hard that it made his knuckles go white. 'Fuck this tournament! I should've just quit when I had the chance.'

He pulled out his phone again, having every intention to message one of the organizers that he was quitting—when he signed up Techno wasn't even in the equation, yet alone the idea of them working together!

Bzz! Bzz!

His phone began to vibrate, shocking the squid so much that the item slipped out of his grasp. It made a few flips in the air before he managed to catch it, mortified to see what was on the screen when he finally looked at it.

Technoblade
I can throw your gift into the lake, but trust me you don't want that.
So, are you coming?

im_a_squid_kid
afjDKahy70#&

Technoblade
I'll take that as a yes.

At that moment, Squid wished he could be teleported to an alternate universe where he didn't reach his phone in time and it was laying in the muddy, wet ground.

Chapter Text

Walking to the Wilderness took longer than it should have but the squid just wasn’t in the mood to hurry and see his arch-nemesis. He was still trying to wrap his head around this seemingly ridiculous situation; it sort of reminded him of school, when he had to get up and take a test he didn’t study for.

Basically, he felt like he was marching to his death, all on his own. 

A big sigh escaped his lips as he spotted the small lake (more like a pond in his opinion), where he often used to fish before the war started. Now he couldn’t come here much, not only because he didn’t have the time but also the place left a bad taste in his mouth—he remembered the randoms that would come up to him, bully him that he only got recognition because of the pig and he was just riding off of his fame. Fortunately, after the second Potato War video, the bullying died down but the harsh words left their mark. Not painful one's mind you, just annoyed memories of people not leaving him alone to do his own thing. 

He never really understood why Techno stood up to him that time. Surely, you would want to see your enemy suffer as much as possible, right? 

Speaking of the pig, Squid expected the other to be waiting for him by now, but he was nowhere to be seen, which ignited an uneasy sensation in his chest. Without his own footsteps, everything seemed too quiet but somehow loud at the same time. The uncomfortable thought flashed through his mind, that he might die here today—after all, he had seen what the man was capable of—but he quickly shook the image of blood away and pulled out his phone.

It was not the time to be afraid. He’ll leave that frustration for the tournament, he decided. 

im_a_squid_kid

im here

where r u?

The response came in the form of a Discord call, the one that the other had promised before their banter through text.

‘Hallo!’ 

‘Don’t “Hallo!” me! I swear if you made me come out here for nothing!’ he knew he was complaining again, but he couldn’t help it. The weather was reaching an optimal state to farm, not to mention, he was already tired. ‘Where are you anyway? Don’t tell me this is a prank!’

‘Oh, I’m here, you just have to find me.' Squid heard a bush move, and he looked over to see a bird jump out of it and fly away. ‘Take it as the… first part of your training.’

‘We agreed not to train.’ Squid stated as he turned to look behind a tree, trying his luck. ‘Ugh, could you at least give me a hint? You know very well that neither of us has time for this!’ he stepped around another tree, almost stomping on a mushroom by accident. 

‘Hmm, you’re close but not close enough.’

‘Oh, wow, thanks for nothing!’ the squid came to a halt in his spot and he listened to Techno’s laugh, doing nothing to stop it. 

‘I’m not east or south. Don’t look for me in the west or north.’ Squid at this point straight up wanted to cry and the snort that escaped from the other made him realize that the pig knew perfectly well what he was doing to his patients. ‘Solve my riddle and you shall find what you’re seeking!’

‘Is this a Sun Tzu quote? Or are you just being weird?’   

He got no answer as a response, and if it wasn't for the soft breathing that was coming from the other end, he would've thought Techno had hung up on him again. 

'Not east, not south… Fuck, I hate riddles!' he murmured as he turned towards said directions. Glancing behind him, he caught sight of the road and began to wonder what would happen if he would leave. 

Would Techno chase after him? 

The thought sent a shiver down his spine: the image of the man sprinting towards him with inhumane speed was terrifying, and for the first time ever, he felt glad that there were rules against hurting your own teammate in the tournament.

'You're bad at this' the pig stated.

'Shut up… or west or north.' he continued with the puzzle, trying his hardest to think as Techno would. It made him start to understand what the other was trying to achieve with this game of his—if they were going to take this event seriously, they have to understand each other in a teammate-like way, rather than only seeing one another as enemies. 'That only leaves…' he looked up with squinted eyes, not expecting his hunch to be correct. After all, why would he be…?

His eyes widened when he spotted deep red between the leaves' vibrant green. 

'Are you kidding me? You expect me to get up there ?!' he whined, pacing a few steps to the right to get the pig into his view. 

Techno lazily waved when he realized that the other noticed where he was. 'Hope you brought your sword that helps you teleport!' 

'That's it!' Squid mumbled before he hung up and slid the phone into his pocket, blood boiling because he did not bring said weapon.

Hell, he didn't even think he would need it! 

He was mad at himself more than Techno (because what pro-skyblock player doesn't have that at hand at all times?) and that just annoyed him even further. Fuming in his own resentment, he searched for an optimal area to grapple up to, wanting to leap without a thought when suddenly, he got hit in the back of the head by something. The momentum made him trip but he managed to stop himself from falling, straightening up with a somehow more pissed-off expression than before. 

'What the hell my guy?!' 

'Use those to get up!' Techno shouted back, and Squid finally turned his head and took a look at what the other targeted him with: a pair of seemingly regular iron boots laid on the ground before him. Knowing that most items in Skyblock were not what they appear as he picked them up to inspect them.

And sure enough, they felt light and strangely… sticky. 

'I-I'm not wearing this!' he yelled, but deep down he knew Techno gave them to him for a reason. He angrily shoved his own shoes into his digital backpack—he had no idea how it worked, or how Hypixel managed to implement them but he guessed it was something to do with breaking an item down to numbers and code and other complicated tech-savvy stuff that he will never have the patience to come even close to understanding—and easily slid into the shiny, expensive-looking footwear. 

They were obviously Techno's, at least one or two sizes bigger, but as soon as he hopped on his feet it formed to fit him perfectly. A sudden nostalgic feeling hit him, remembering how in the early days of the server, items didn't use to do this, making trading very difficult and annoying.

'Are you coming or are you just going to stand there?' 

Hearing that question was what pushed Squid back into his temporary rage. Acting on impulse he started running and jumped, pulling out his grappling rod at the same time, air ringing in his ears as he got further and further away from the ground. After landing on a sturdy area on a tree, he repeated the same movement until only a few branches separated them. 

There was one problem though: there was no possible way for him to grapple up that high. A quick pat-down on himself later, he was assured that he did have an ender pearl tucked away, but from the angle, he was facing the region, it would've been difficult to land. Although, he took pride in his aim, risking it would mean he had a high chance to fall on his face and not only embarrass himself in front of Techno but heavily hurt himself as well. 

Furry fought with rationality in his mind, as he pulled out his ender pearl, gripping it strongly with one hand. 

Should he… do it? Ultimately, he did not need to, he already played Techno's game long enough. He should just leave or negotiate for the other to jump down from his spot or–

'Don't tell me you're actually thinking about landing that!'

'And what if I am?!' Squid yelled back with a daring tone, gazing up to meet the pig's eyes. He stood there, a tinge of annoyance pulling at his gaze. 'You wanted me to get up here in the first–'

'Just use the boots, idiot!' 

Squid physically gulped down the rest of his sentence, glancing down at the shoes—for a second he struggled to focus, seeing past them and realizing how far up he actually was from the ground. He crouched down, searching for the manual button to turn on the shoes' ability (since Techno didn't hit him in the back with a fancy remote for it). The sticky texture felt gross and he needed to shut his mouth closed to not voice his displeasure, standing up and letting out a big breath he didn't realize he was holding. 

The shoes tightened around his feet when the button activated, becoming so light that it felt like he wasn't even wearing anything, to begin with. 'Spider boots, of course…!' he whispered to himself as his hook cut into the high-up branch, leaping into the air yet again, now with confidence. Suddenly, the shoes' ability kicked in and Squid "jumped" again—it was more of an artificial lunch than a jump—something he forgot how to accurately control and he held onto his rod tighter, realizing how big of a trouble he was in at the moment. 

Because it didn't look like he was going to reach the branch from the curve he was about to fall from. 

He felt his throat close up by the adrenaline and as a last-ditch effort, he pulled on his grappling hook, hard, ripping it out of the firm bark and sending the sharp end of it flying towards his face. 

Mind blank, reacting on impulse more than anything else, he grabbed his ender pearl and blindly threw it, closing his eyes to prepare for whatever area he might land on. 

Feeling a thud against his chest made his sealed eyes pop open, desperately grabbing onto the sturdy texture of wood when he felt himself slip downwards. The sound of twigs breaking somewhere nearby made him glance over his shoulder, watching his grappling hook fall and break into pieces as it hit the ground. 

He quickly snapped his gaze up when a shadow was cast on him. He desperately tried to pull himself up onto the large branch as Techno crouched down next to him to watch. 

'Need help there Squid?' the pig asked, grinning when the other answered with two determined groans, as he struggled. 'I'll take that as a yes!' 

'No! Get your hands away from me!' Squid yelled when Techno tried to help him up. He withdrew his hands with a cocked-up eyebrow but didn't move from his spot. 

Squid didn't know if it was the intense stare he got from Techno or the fact that the pig stayed by his side to be a safety net that gave him the newfound energy to finally push himself up. He knew he should be embarrassed about the events but he couldn't care less at the moment as he laid there on his back, exhausted. 

He let a chilly breeze cool him down before he started to feel the weight of Techno's stare still fixated on him.

'Ugh… what?!' he asked, ready for the snarky comment the other had probably come up with. 

'You scared me.' 

The squid (after making sure that he was, in fact, on something stable) propped himself up on his forearms to look at his rival: he was still crouching in front of him with his signature outfit on, accompanied by an expressionless face.

'Technoblade in all his glory…' Squid though, before he realized that he only had socks on, which confused the man for a second before remembering that he was wearing the other's shoes at the moment. 

A weird itch traveled up his leg by the realization. 'You, uh, sure don't look like I shocked you.' 

'I saw your face, you had no idea what you were doing!' he said, slowly rising to his feet and popping a few joints in the process. 'I could already see the Twitter headline in my head, man! Famous Minecraft Youtuber Technoblade "accidentally" cripples his teammate before major charity tournament. ' expression softened, he extended his arm again, invitingly opening his palm. 

Squid looked at the hand in front of him almost as if it was an alien creature— hospitality wasn't something he expected when he literally yelled at the man earlier to get the hell away from him. He dragged his gaze away, and snapped it up to Techno's face, trying to find some sort of indication that the other was going to push him off or press a sword against his neck as soon as he was helped to his feet. 

'I-' he stuttered, as he shook his head, mad that he was even considering the offer. He shoved himself up to stand, slapping Techno's hand away with a now daring mood. 'I don't need your charity! I was perfectly in control of that situation!' 

'Uh-huh, so that's why you closed your eyes and broke your grappling hook!' before Squid could say something in his defense, Techno continued. 'No, no I get it! You were just bored and tried to make it a challenge!'

'Yeah! Next time, come up with something more exciting than some lame riddle, will you?' 

You could practically cut the tension that overtook the tone of their conversation; standing close and eyes locked, it seemed both of them were waiting for the other to just give up this banter of theirs first.

'You know, if we argue this much during the tournament, I think we're set up for victory here!' Techno's comment was annoyingly sarcastic but it made Squid come back to his senses in a way. He relaxed his shoulders and finally broke their eye contact, pacing back a few steps to make space between them. 

'Techno. This clearly–'

'No' the pig effortlessly cut into his sentence, a scoff escaping from the other as a result.

'You don't even know what I was going to say!' 

' "This clearly isn't going to work, let's just forfeit!" You know I'm not about that life and I know for a fact you are not either.' before Squid could argue he continued. 'And I already spent money on you.'

'W-What?! Did you bet on me or something?' 

'Relax!' Techno answered, purposefully dragging out each vowel. Squid heard a soft click sound as the pig reached around his belt, pulling out a clear bag and shoving it in front of Squid's face. 'It was for this!' 

'…?' he carefully inspected it, eyes widened as he realized that it wasn't just an empty bag: there was a small squid swimming around in it, its skin sparkling with a hint of gold. He tried to reach and touch the surface of the clear encasement but Techno pulled it away to get Squid's attention back on him. 

'As you know, I want to negotiate a deal.' 

Squid shook off his initial shock, folding his arms together in front of him. 'I already have a legendary, why should I care?' 

'I know that you stopped leveling up yours to invest into the rabbit pet' the man answered and Squid tried to look unimpressed because of course Techno knew that. He memorized his sleeping schedule for fuck's sake, this shouldn't be surprising! 'This one is at level 100. I thought it would be a fitting price for what I'm about to ask.' 

'What if I like the grind of leveling up my pets?'

'You don't'

'Stop acting like you know everything about me!' Squid snapped, frustrated yet again. 

'But I pretty much do, so…' he held up the little guy again, making the "LVL 100" marking visible. 'Also, no one likes to level up pets, the experience requirement is insane!'  

'Fine!' the squid shouted, clearing his voice when he realized how loud he was being. 'What do you want?' 

Because really, what could the pig possibly want that he didn't already have? He could snap his fingers and there would be a whole team, viewers, not to mention Admins backing him up to get him anything he wanted.

'Truce' 

'...huh?'

'Listen, the tournament is over the weekend.' Techno began to explain. 'We'll be exhausted on Monday because of it. So I want a temporary truce between us from Saturday to Friday. No farming, no collecting from minions. No nothing for a week.' 

Squid didn't want to believe what he just heard. His brain was already having trouble with the concept of them teaming and the fact that they were actually communicating (somewhat) normally. 

But a truce? Their fans have been begging them to take a break but he would've never imagined Techno actually considering it.

'Let me get this straight' Squid spoke with a slightly offended tone that Techno didn't miss but chose to not comment on. 'You want me to believe that you won't come up with some secret strategy and somehow cheat this… deal?'

'Really oversimplified but yeah, pretty much that's the concept.' a moment of silence passed between them before Techno started speaking again as if he forgot he wanted to continue his sentence. 'And I trust you to not backstab me, that's also important. I don't want you to show up with like, 50 dudes in full diamond prot, equipped with swords made out of enchanted orphans!'  

Squid suppressed a laugh at that. Even if they were rivals, he couldn't lie that he occasionally found the man funny.  

'I still think we should just quit' 

Because really, this couldn't possibly work between them: having friendly banter, chatting casually like they haven't been stalking each other for months. 

Like they weren't in the middle of a fucking war. 

Techno smacked his lips together as if he wasn't expecting that kind of answer, murmuring under his breath. 

'Didn't want to result to this…'

And then he stepped closer.

Feet landed softly on the firm bark one after another and Squid's eyes widened. 

The fear from before crept up the back of his mind that the pig might kill him today. He didn't understand where the irrational thought came from, since the man has been trying his hardest to be… nice-ish. He never once felt any intention coming from Techno that he might be in physical danger in the few times they met but something, at this very moment, was different.

And then he saw; the way Techno's cape got picked up by the wind, softly waving it behind him like he was pulled from a fairytale about heroes, knights, and dragons. The way he moved, slow but steadfast at the same time like he was ready to jump into action any second he heard a suspicious rattle that could be mistaken for a whistle of an arrow. The faint scars plastered across his neck, his face, and his hands. The sharp stare, accompanied by an expressionless stare that somehow could soften and stiffen seemingly at will.  

In short, Technoblade was terrifying to be up close with and Squid wondered how he never noticed that before. No scratch that, he did notice—he just didn't pay attention, didn't understand why his muscles would soften from a frozen posture after they were done talking. 

He strolled back instinctively and Techno came to a halt, eyes meeting yet again. 

Squid could tell that Techno knew he was afraid and for a second, an apologetic, no, more like an understanding look flashed across his face that Squid couldn't quite place anywhere. 

'W-what?' the younger meant for his voice to be strong or hell, even annoyed but it came out with such genuine confusion, that it would've been impossible to deny. 

Because he was stunned! How could his rival go from terrifying to looking like a kicked puppy in mere moments? It didn't make any sense!

'Please' 

Embarrassed posture, avoiding eye contact. It took a few blinks for Squid to realize what was happening but when he understood, his smile grew wide, the fear from before only a shadow at the back of his mind.

'Ah, sorry!' he was grinning now with his teeth showing, not even trying to hide them. 'Didn't quite catch that, could you repeat? he knew he probably looked like a child who managed to sneak an extra treat out of the cookie jar after dinner but Squid couldn't help it. 

This was the closest he could get Techno to begging him and he was going to indulge in it until he could.  

'Please!...' a big, aggravated sigh later the initially depressing facade was dropped and Techno was back to his former self. 'Oh, you thought you could farm that, huh? Not happening dude!' 

Squid clicked his tongue in disappointment but let out a chuckle right after. 'Look, it was worth a shot!' 

Techno smiled at that, a knowing expression sparkling behind his eyes. 'Well?'

An upset groan later, Squid extended his arm for a handshake. 'I hate you'

'Oh, trust me I'm aware' Techno took his hand, firmly taking it. 'Truce?'

'Yeah, yeah. Now give me my squid!' he quickly snatched it out of Techno's hand, surprised that the pig didn't try to stop him even out of reflex. After strolling back a few steps he came to a halt, activating his watch to teleport away—he needed to pack for tomorrow and he knew if he got home any later, he would be too lazy to do it. 'You uh, you definitely own me a grappling hook too but y'know, I think I'll let it go this time.' 

Teleporting in 5…

'Consider it as confirmation that I'm not gonna try anything during our agreement!'

Teleporting in 4…

'Squid, not to be that guy but–'

Teleporting in 3…

'I need my shoes back.'

Glancing down to his feet, Squid realized that he was in fact still wearing the Spider boots. 

Teleporting in 2…

'Oh, um' he let out a chuckle as he made eye contact with the pig who was now approaching with fast steps. 'How about no?'

Teleporting…

The world went dark for a second before Squid was met with the familiar lobby of his island. A smile tugged at his lips as his ears continued to ring with his own name being furiously shouted at him.

Chapter Text

Squid has never been a fan of the Main Hub System. Sure, he was used to the idea of "busy" thanks to the Hypixel lobbies but nothing compared to the sheer amount of people flooding in and out of portals and the loudness that this place had to offer. To put it simply, it was chaotic; if you took just one wrong turn you could easily end up at an unfamiliar portal, which would lead you to a completely different server that you were originally trying to get to.

'We should've met up earlier' the squid murmured to himself as he skimmed through the crowd. He somehow managed to find an open seat—a very uncomfortable one, mind you—in front of the giant Hypixel portal, but the big line blocked his vision, making it difficult to spot even someone like Techno.

Hell, it was also possible that he left a long time ago without him noticing.

He sighed and stared at the unsent Discord message he typed out 10 minutes ago. The Hub provided free WiFi but it took ages to connect to and he exhausted his mobile data by accident a few days back, which obviously he only noticed just now. With his lack of Techno's phone number, there was basically nothing he could do but wait and feel dumb for not arranging any kind of meetup plan beforehand.

In his boredom, he stared up at the ceiling, the sense of familiar unease settling in his stomach by the sight of the enormous see-through dome structure that separated him from the black void that surrounded them. He has seen the swirling particles countless times but somehow here, disconnected from all realms it felt so… real.

Threatening even.

He lost count of how many times the thought of the building collapsing has crossed his mind over the years, but it sent a shiver down his spine all the same. The rumors didn't help either: some said that if you died in the Hub, you would die forever and your soul would become a part of the void, while others speculated that you would just respawn in the center of the dome-like nothing had happened.

One thing's for sure, Squid didn't want to find out which one was true.

With an annoyed huff he fixed his eyes back on the exit. Most people who he managed to spot seemed to have the same thing in common:

They looked exhausted.

While the greater percentage of try-hards lived on Hypixel to avoid the trouble of constantly having to switch servers, some who couldn't afford the MVP ranks were forced to live the commute lifestyle to make room for the nones and VIPs. This created some issues amongst players, which was definitely growing itself into a big problem. In the more closed circles of Hypixel it was being murmured that this was the "calm before the storm", and a sort of revolution was boiling under the surface. Squid tried to stay informed, listened to Lego Maestro's interviews with some of the players who were more knowledgeable about the topic but ultimately, the situation was starting to leave him cold. Not because he didn't care, Hypixel was his home, he couldn't imagine himself living anywhere else! But those with the Youtuber rank seemed to seek neutrality and preferred to try and educate the masses about both sides' views instead of interfering directly. So, he did the same, attempting to just sit this one out and hope the rumors weren't true.

Lost in his thoughts like this, the people around him shifted from being annoying to simple white noise and he found himself relaxed, studying some of the passersby.

A girl with messily cut bangs and long green hair (that was just barely above the floor) was arguing with a guy, wearing a lab coat and thick goggles. It was a strange sight to behold but he guessed they were just doing some kind of cosplay. Next, he glanced at a kid with a red shirt pasturing his dad about wanting to sit on his shoulders, probably to see better. Squid could hear the dad refuse with the reason that his suit would get ruined but ultimately decided to give in and picked the boy up. A victory cheer could be heard as they walked by and the squid let out a quick laugh when he heard it. Finally, he noticed a guy dressed in a black hoodie, his animalistic ears barely poking out under his hood. The main reason he caught his eyes was because he was pulling around two suitcases, one in each hand. One of them was light pink, while the other was…?

No, surely not. He was just being paranoid, his luggage was just right on his left, out of arm's reach!

But when he turned to look, he couldn't find it. It was like it dissolved into thin air.

Except, he knew it didn't! He just saw it!

He snapped his head back from his side back to the man. He was still visible, getting further and further away at a steady pace.

And Squid's luggage, which was being stolen right this minute!

He felt himself panic since he knew he had a decision to make. Should he sprint after him and risk getting caught up in the crowd or should he try to turn to security? If he was late from the tournament, they would surely get kicked out! Even if he was still unsure about participating he knew Techno would be mad at him and invoking the pig's wrath was definitely the last thing he wanted to do today.

In a desperate attempt, he looked around: he spotted some security people near the back of the queue but they seemed rather occupied with trying to control the huge line. Not to mention, Squid didn't see the guy's face! Even someone with a giant neon sign could get lost in a crowd like this, let alone a guy in a black hoodie!

'Fuck!' he swore out loud as he made his decision and booked it after the thief. 'If I wouldn't have waited for that bozo…!'

He ran past and bumped into some people all while furiously apologizing. He even broke between a couple holding hands, the inappropriate words shouted after him drowning into a mere muffle as he focused on tracking and following the light pink suitcase. It was a few rows ahead of him, but he could still see it!

The only problem was that they came to a big intersection—the crowd only got denser he was practically touching shoulders with the two strangers by his side—and Squid knew he needed to think something up. The man could take any unpredictable turn and he wouldn't be able to follow. Cutting him off now would be the most ideal but… how?

He furrowed his eyebrows together, as he tried his best to inch closer; it sort of worked as he managed to squeeze past, earning some more complaints from the people around him.

Yes, he definitely stepped on someone's foot. Did he give a crap? Absolutely not! He was getting his stuff back one way or another and if he had to scramble someone's foot over it, well, so be it!

'What seems to be the problem?'

Scared by the sudden voice, he needed a second to suppress a surprised noise that built up in his chest; an ender-like security guard stood by his side, towering over him with vibrant eyes. His throat felt dry all of a sudden as he opened his mouth to speak, staring up at the guard. 'Officer I–'

'You rAN. A lot. Too MUch.' he spoke with a thick ender accent, which consisted of a strangely jumpy tone with small stops in between words. It seemed like the first initial greeting was a line he practiced, that's why it came out so fluent. 'I wAS. Cautious. Watching yOU!'

Many of the guards of this place were ender creatures who still possessed the ability to teleport, although some were ghosts while others merely had the capability to fly. These mobilities greatly helped with public control, but it was clear that those who weren't of the ender variety quickly grew anxious because of the void's presence.

Squid often heard that enders had a certain vibe that could be described as uncomfortable but he usually felt quite the opposite and sensed a sort of familiarity when interacting with them—he guessed it was the stare since many sea creatures had eyes that could be described as unsettling or creepy as well—but in this situation, he could sympathize with the uneasy sensation. A tall, lanky figure could always come off as menacing but the fact that the man in front of him was watching him and decided he was acting out of the ordinary enough to appear right behind him was definitely terrifying.

Not to mention the authority this person had over him! It was a known fact that this place had a jail and Squid was not about to go there because of a misunderstanding!

'H-he–' trying his hardest to not draw any more attention to himself, he lowered his voice before he swiftly pointed at the hooded man. 'He has my stuff!'

The tall man turned towards the guy to look at him, then back at Squid. He had an unreadable expression on his face for a split second before he nodded and the squid let out a long breath he didn't realize he was holding.

He was finally getting justice!

But instead of going for the thief to arrest him, the officer firmly placed his hands on the squid's shoulders, who shivered in response.

'Wha–?' before Squid processed what was happening, he was wrapped in purple darkness. He inhaled some of the thick particles, stumbling onto his feet with a nauseous feeling as the guard let him go.

'FrieND!' the enderman explained with delight while the squid blinked a few times to clear his purple vision; to his horror, he found himself next to the man he was chasing all this time! He and the guard were having a chat and by the sound of it, it wasn't the tone Squid hoped for.

'No, we're not–' he wanted to protest. This was going all wrong, this guy should be in prison!

'Yeah, we got separated. He's short so I keep losing him.' the ender and the guy laughed before he turned towards him. 'Right, Squid?'

Finally, being able to see his face clearly, he felt his initial shock turn into rage: the animalistic ears he'd seen from afar were clearly pig ears! Not to mention the clothing he mistook for a hoodie was clearly a zippered pullover. Half of it was open, revealing a red "Blood For The Blood God" T-shirt underneath.

'You–!' he wanted to shout, scream, and just straight up punch when he realized the culprit he was chasing was Techno this whole time! Instead, he could only cough, the irritating particles he inhaled still itching the back of his throat.

'Careful! NeXT time?' the security guard instructed with an expression that was the closest to resembling a smile before he teleported away.

'Bro, you didn't need to call the police on me like that!' Techno asserted as Squid finally managed to get his breathing back in control. 'Damn, do you need like… water?'

'This is all your fault!' Squid flashed a death glare towards him as he snatched his suitcase out of his hand. 'Why did you even–? W-what were you trying to achieve?!' he was angry, maybe even angrier than after he realized his #1 Potato Ranks has been taken from him. If this is what was going to be like to team with Techno, these two days were going to be straight-up torture!

'Psh, relax! You're just going to draw more attention again' slowly but surely the crowd around them begin to move and Techno, without even looking, took one of the turns. 'Uhh, this way!'

'Wait–' Squid struggled to push past some people for a second as he followed. It was a miracle this time he didn't get shouted at. 'How do you know?'

'Human GPS' he simply replied, as he slowed his pace to let the other catch up.

'Oh, brother…' Squid simply sighed. He was still frustrated but then again, he did achieve his main objectives: get his stuff back and find Techno.

And speaking of the pig. 'What the hell are you wearing by the way?'

'My merch, quite clearly. Did you get some sort of brain damage the last time I saw you?'

'You're the one giving me brain damage!' he cried out, hearing Techno chuckle but choosing to ignore it. 'No, but seriously, where's your fancy cape?'

'Ah, I get uncomfortable when people approach me at places like these' Techno explained as he took another turn, the squid almost slipping as he tried to keep up. There were fewer people around them the further they got from the main area, and Squid was pretty sure they passed more and more familiar faces. 'Like this, it's not so obvious it's me'

'You're telling me you have… what? Social anxiety?' a laugh bubbled up to the surface in Squid's chest by that proclamation. 'You're literally wearing your own brand! Even the stupidest bozo would be able to recognize you!'

'Well, maybe' Techno shrugged, flashing him a half-smile that could only be described as taunting. 'I fooled you though'

Oh, that was it! That was the last straw Squid needed as he curled up his hand into a fist and took a swing at Techno's face. A loud clatter could be heard from both of them as the pig got the upper hand, easily dodging the attack and strongly gripping the squid's arm. He swiftly pulled him closer to his face as they came to a halt and Squid's eyes were met with the pig's—he was completely calm, almost frighteningly like it took absolutely no effort to stop the attempted punch. Squid kept their gaze connected, refusing to turn his head as he channeled every bit of anger into his stare to make sure the other understood how upset he was. Techno on the other hand didn't seem to notice as his attention quickly shifted past the squid's shoulder, some sort of realization appearing in his eyes.

Whatever it was, it made him lose his grip on Squid's arm and lowered it between them. The squid attempted to free himself but soon he was being dragged like he weighed nothing and before he could call for help, he was yanked into the nearest public bathroom.

'What the hell?!' Squid shouted, finally being able to pull away.

'I took your bag because you stole my shoes.' Techno replied as he spun around on his heel to look at the other. 'Not important. Listen–'

'Not important? Not important?! You nearly gave me a heart attack!' he felt his rage building up again as he tried to kick Techno's shin, apparently not learning from his previous mistake of trying to one-up him; the pig dodged him again and took Squid by the wrists, pushing him against the cold tile wall with his arms pinned above his head.

'Are you TRYING to get us kicked out?' Techno shouted, his voice followed by a slight echo. The squid sloppily tried to kick again to no result. The pig simply stepped on his feet, leaving him only to struggle. Karma was for sure a ruthless bitch. 'You literally got the police on us–!'

'Oh, like you haven't done that before!' Squid complained. He figured if he couldn't use physical force, he might as well use his ability to be able to start an argument about anything and everything.

Techno exhaled some air through his nose, clearly frustrated. If he was in a cartoon, there would be smoke coming out of it to emphasize his anger. The mental image made Squid smirk, which only made Techno's stare grow darker.

So much for not wanting to make him mad today.

'If you keep this up, you'll be the first to die in this tournament.' the pig stated as he stepped away from the squid, letting him go. The other dropped his hands, bringing his gloved covered wrist in front of him to inspect them—there were no marks that could indicate what just happened, even though they still felt numb from the force the pig used. 'That is if we get in.'

'Why wouldn't we? You're literally Technoblade!' he laughed, because really, who would deny him participating? The amount of money he could raise just by being on screen for a second was more than enough to fund a small orphanage if needed.

'Uh, hello?' a door opening behind them could be heard, both men turning towards the source of the voice. 'Techno? Squid?'

The one standing in the doorway was no other than Pikaclicks himself. He was primarily famous for helping to organize Minecraft Ultimate, an event focused on Hunger Games. To Squid's knowledge, both him and Techno have been invited but none of them took the offer because of the war.

'Hey, Noah' Squid awkwardly waved as the other slid down his sunglasses to take a better look at them—his yellow bunny-like ears perked up, clearly suspicious of the two.

'Did you two… fight?'

Squid and Techno shared a quick glance at each seemingly clicking for the first time today as they both let out a long 'No' as an answer.

'Would we ever do that?' Techno asked, the sarcasm in his voice thicker than plot convenient fog in horror movies. Squid suppressed an eye roll.

'Okay, good' he sighed, clearly still skeptical. 'If you fight, we'll probably have to send you home. Honestly, who even thought teaming you two up was a good idea?' pushing up his shades, he turned on his heels, gesturing with his hand for them to follow. 'C'mon, I already sent your luggage through the portal!'

'Wait… How?' Squid asked, suddenly aware that he managed to lose his stuff again.

Pika stopped, holding the door open with his foot as he glanced back at the two. His lip twitched into a smile, one that could've been mistaken for a friendly one if not for the black sunglasses that covered his eyes.

'You dropped them' he responded coldly before he left, the door swinging close behind him.

Squid stood in the middle of the restroom, uneasy. The feeling reminded him of the time he accidentally broke one of his mother's expensive teacups—she hugged him tightly, telling him it was okay but he could still sense her disappointment, the anger choked back in her voice.

While in this dumbfounded state, Techno brushed against his arm, heading for the exit. They exchanged a quick glance: the pig's gaze was strong, sending a shiver down his spine.

He wasn't sure what it meant, really, but he had a good guess what it implied.

Chapter Text

The journey between realms was always exciting! You never truly knew what to expect on the other side: sometimes a neatly constructed lobby would be waiting for you while others didn't bother and just plopped you down in the middle of nowhere.

This time though, it was something a bit different. The portal's area was closed off with an iron fence, with a few guards guarding two gates on either side. After going through a security check up, they were greeted with a small podium-like structure, where two gondola lifts were waiting, ready to go—they seemed to be on some sort of line made out of particles, flashing white, like when a shulker shoots its bullet.

'Are we going on a mountain?' Techno asked as he stepped inside their pod, sitting down at the first possible seat then scooting closer to the window to make room for the others.

Squid (to Pika's nudge) got in after him, taking in the interior; the pod was small, only two benches squeezed against the walls. It was clearly designed for four people max but Squid doubted someone bigger would fit inside with three other passengers.

A moment of consideration later he took the empty bench, trying to relax in the uncomfortable plastic.

'Not quite a mountain' Noah laughed, plopping himself down next to Techno. 'But you'll see!'

Please, fasten your seatbelts and prepare for lift off! echoed a robotic voice as they lifted off of the ground with a strange sound and began moving in a 45 degree angle, straight into the portal.

Squid—remembering his incident with the enderman-like guard earlier—took a big breath as they traveled through. Although his technique stopped any sort of coughing, he did feel a bit nauseous after the sickening swirls disappeared, signaling that they had successfully arrived.

'Gentleman, welcome to the Diamond Showdown server!' Noah announced in a proud fashion signaling the two to look out the window.

Squid and Techno simultaneously turned their attention, being greeted by the endless, clear blue sky. The squid wanted to whistle as a sign of impressment but since he could feel his ears getting blocked by the sudden pressure difference he instead yawned to get it unclogged.

'Still not convinced that we're not going on a mountain.' Techno stated after acknowledging the view.

'Wooow, you two are hard to impress, man' Pika let out a lighthearted scoff.

'We live on Skyblock, we see the sky every day' Techno informed, already bored by the view. 'How long are we gonna be on this thing?

'Eh, about 15 to 30 minutes'

The answer earned a groan out of Techno but he didn’t continue to complain, instead changing the subject.

Squid could already feel his mind wandering as he devoted his attention back to the view, catching the glimpse of another pod that was quite far ahead of them. When he got bored of wondering about who could be traveling in it, he made an effort to tune back into the conversation; Techno was trying his hardest to pull some information out of Noah about the tournament but the Admin wouldn't budge.

'If you would've opened your invitation letter to Minecraft Ultimate before coming here, I'd maybe consider it'

'Bro, I haven't even unwrapped the package Hypixel sent me! It's been collecting dust in the corner of my room for years at this point.' the pig explained as he came up with a compromise. 'Listen, I promise I'll open it if you give me something to work with here!'

Noah shook his head with a click of his tongue. 'Don't take this the wrong way but I don't believe you.'

'Bruuuh'

Squid shifted in his seat, sneaking a glance at Techno's reaction. He didn't seem annoyed despite the Admin's uncooperative behavior. If anything, he looked content he didn't have to try and force conversation… or at least that was Squid's first thought. It was still kinda hard to imagine the "All Mighty Blade" having communication issues or being uncomfortable around new people, like he proclaimed at the Hub.

The image of Techno being stereotypically timid materialized in front of his eyes: blushy and soft-spoken, avoiding eye-contact at all cost. It was downright ridiculous, so much so that he felt a grin slowly creep up his face.

He blinked the picture away as fast as it came, the smirk slowly freezing off of his lips when he realized that their ride had gotten quiet. Noah was busy with something on his phone and Techno was, well… staring at him. When they made eye contact, Squid furrowed his eyebrows together as if trying to “ask” what the pig wanted.

It was starting to look like this was becoming their thing now. Communication through staring, both of them reading it how they liked. It wasn't something Squid preferred, he liked to be upfront, give everyone a piece of his mind even if it got him into trouble.

When Techno simply shrugged, Squid could feel a leftover tick from their fight travel up his neck to his eye; he was trying to make an effort here and all the other could produce was a shrug?

That fight in the bathroom was the first time Techno actually got physical with him and he knew for certain he was holding back. It served as a warning rather than intimidation! That's why the squid was so cocky to fight back, which was stupid, of course. He knew it was and yet, at that moment, it didn't feel like it! Must've been some sort of psychological bullshit, making him believe that he could win, only to get one-upped like it was nothing.

'Woah, if looks could kill…' Noah pointed it out as he leaned back in his seat. 'Who's genius idea was to team you two anyways?'

'Shouldn't you know this?' Techno questioned.

'I was more in charge of the technical stuff'

'Ah, we know who to blame now if something goes wrong!' Techno snickered.

Noah only rolled his eyes (which was a talent to notice, considering he was wearing shades). 'So who was it? Who put you together?'

'Smajor' Squid responded. He had a faint memory of another Admin being involved too but to his knowledge, Scott was the one to suggest their weird combo even after he persisted against it.

Techno let out a sound close to a huff before he responded. 'Well, he always knew how to nerf me'

Squid opened his mouth to protest but was quickly cut off.

'Yeah right, didn't he talk about teaming you with Dream now that he's in MCC?' Noah pointed out. 'Guess he's a fan of the whole "enemies as teammates" trope thing.'

'He was wrong about this one' Squid mumbled.

'Hmm, no, not really' Techno disagreed. 'I'm going for the win here. It's your choice if you want to follow'

'You–!' if Noah thought Squid's last stare was deadly, he wasn't prepared for the staredown that happened right after that sentence—it looked like Squid could throw him out the window right then and there and the fact that the king wasn't intimidated but amused was not something you would expect from two people who were supposed to be teammates. 'A day ago you didn't even know this tournament existed!'

'Woah, what?'

'Hey, man, I was busy farming!' Techno justified the information to Noah as he flashed an unimpressed glance at Squid. 'I don't know what you were doing'

'Oh, oh, is this the point where we're going to pretend that you don't stalk me everyday?' Squid cocked up an eyebrow. 'I mean c'mon, how much money did you spend on alts just to spy on me? You say you're obsessed with your potatoes and then spend hours on my island?! Not going to lie Techno, that's kinda sus'

'Okayyy… Well!' Pika directly changed the subject when he noticed Techno opening his mouth to respond. 'The only rule in my contract is to stop teammates from physical fights. And to remind them that this is for charity!' he emphasized as he pulled out his phone again, ignoring how Squid stuck his tongue out at Techno like a child. 'I see you two marked down Mr. Beast's upcoming ocean cleaning project as the beneficiary, is that correct?'

'Mr. Beast? Seriously?'

'What? You hate the ocean now too or something?'

'The ocean SUCK, you can't even drink it!' Techno argued. 'All that water and for what! Fish? Cringe!'

'You need regular water to live? Dude, like actually? Maybe you're the one who's cringe!'

'Jesus Christ, you two are insufferable!' the Admin broke out a cry, making the two go quiet. 'Techno, what's your charity of choice?'

'The Miracle Foundation' he stated without missing a heartbeat.

'Okay! Then if you guys win, which I highly doubt after what I just heard…' Noah explained, pulling down his sunglasses to emphasize his dissatisfaction. 'The Admins will half the price, which is not allowed but I bet it's going to be easier to pull some strings than to reason with you two!' as if the lift heard the stressed employee, it came to a halt with a bump, the robotic voice from before announcing their arrival.

The lift has reached its destination! Please, unbuckle your seatbelts and exit as cautiously as possible!

'Well, we're here' Noah announced too as they all obeyed the voice command, safely getting out of the pod. The door closed behind them and with the same weird sound started heading back to its station back at the Hub. 'I had a whole speech about this place but to be honest, you two put me in a mood. So here are your keys and your room number is–'

But Squid wasn't listening, too dumbfounded looking at the giant mansion-like building ahead of them; the roof was covered in shiny diamond blocks, while the walls consisted of nothing but quartz and concrete. Not to mention, they were standing on an enormous floating island, covered in vibrant green grass and giant mushrooms!

They were here! Like, actually here!

Squid could feel a pit settle into his stomach; as much as arguing with Techno was a bad sign on their partnership, it definitely served as an excellent distraction from his nervousness! But now, taking a few steps towards the big garden—that seemed to wrap around the entire building—was making his heart pound against his chest with excitement.

This was happening! He could walk amongst some of the biggest content creators here, take pictures, hell, maybe even have a chat with some of them!

Lost in his daydreams, it took him a moment to realize the touch on his shoulder, turning around with a hopeful look. Was someone already trying to talk to him? I mean, he didn't blame them, people did know who he was! Maybe they came to–?

Oh no.

No, no, no!

'Hello, Squidkid' WilburSoot himself greeted him with his hands in his pockets, looking as fashionable as he always did in his yellow sweater, towering over him with a grin that could be interpreted both as friendly and passive-aggressive.

Squid swallowed. Although he was certain Wilbur was a reasonable guy, he was also one of Techno's closest friends and he very much seemed like the protective type; they met once before when he came to pick up Tommy after a bow dual match between them and Wilbur stared at him with a venomous glare the whole time.

Throat dry, the squid gave an awkward toothy smile with a weak wave while trying to catch a glimpse of Techno out of the corner of his eye: the pig was surrounded by Pika (who by the looks of it was still explaining something), Wilbur's partner in crime this tournament, Philza and… Jack Manifold?!

Great. Just great.

'Care to take a walk with me, Squidkid?' Wilbur spoke with a soft tone but there was just something about how he said his name that made Squid's legs feel like lead.

'A-actually!' finally finding his voice he paced a few steps backward to put space between them. 'I– uhhh…'

'WILBUR!!!!'

Came crashing, TommyInnit rolled past them on a skateboard, seemingly out of nowhere.

'AAAA, SHIT, WILBUR HELP!!!' he screamed as he approached the ledge of the clouds with rapid speed, unable to stop.

'TOMMY' Wilbur yelled as he dashed forward, yanking the boy off of the moving object. They landed on the ground and Squid watched as the skateboard rolled near the edge, bouncing back like it hit something that wasn't there. Before he could ponder as to what was that about, his attention drifted back to the two; they were both laughing but Wilbur was clearly upset about Tommy's carelessness.

Realizing that this was his chance to slip away unnoticed, he turned around to back out, almost bumping into Pika in the process.

'Okay guys, gather up!' Noah yelled as he stopped next to Squid, gesturing to the two boys to get up from the ground. He waited as the three teams crowded together before he continued. 'The six of you are the last ones, so I'll personally escort you to the mansion. Oh, and Tommy? I'm going to need to confiscate that skateboard.'

'Whaaat? But I got this from a supporter!' he argued as he lifted the item up. On the bottom there was indeed a [Rare] marking, written in a shiny, blue color. 'See?'

'Yoo, he's cheating the system! Admins, ban that guy!' Techno emphasized his point by pointing his index finger at Tommy, who made an offended gasp in return.

'Yes, that's what I'm about to do'

'Wait, wait, wait! You can't do that!' Tommy protested as he stood on top of the thing, almost falling off but managing to keep his balance at the last second. 'This is mine! A loyal fan gave it to me and I shall do great things with it!'

'Like, almost killing yourself?' Techno asked with a snort.

'Ruining my outfit?' Wilbur pointed out as he drew attention to the large green grass stains on his jeans.

'Looking like an idiot?' Jack questioned.

'I don't look like an idiot!' he argued as he turned to Phil with a hopeful look. 'Right?'

'Tommy just give him the skateboard!' Philza hurried to the rescue with a laugh. Tommy muttered a sad "Fine" under his breath and handed it to Pika. 'How'd you even get that?'

'Because I'm so good at the–'

'We ran a quick test on the donation website to see if everything worked. In short, it didn't.' Noah cut in, explaining the situation before turning to Tommy's sullen face. 'You'll get it back once the event starts just like everyone else who got items in that period.'

'Let's go then! Go, go, go!!!' the younger one shouted with an excited bounce.

'Right, follow me!' Noah nodded as he turned around on his heels but as if he remembered something he stopped, making direct eye contact with Squid. 'You two stay in the back, I don't want you near me'

'You have to be trolling!' Squid let out a cry. Pika ignored it as he began to lead the group through the garden; not like there was any need to be supervised, a stone-andesite mixed path was leading right up to the giant gates of the massive building.

Since he was practically forced to stay in the back, Squid tried to at least appreciate the countless hours the builders put into this one area alone!

A few ponds were scattered throughout the place, each with lily pads and different types of exotic fish. It created an easy-on-the-eye atmosphere; not too colorful but not too dull either, not getting swallowed by the dominating grays of the stones and the green of the grass or the red mushrooms and blue flowers.

This scenery would've been perfect and so inspiring for the island he's been contemplating buying once the war was over. He really needed a fresh start and considering he was planning to sell all his potatoes once he had won, he was going to have some spare change.

But something… or rather someone just wasn't letting him have this peaceful moment!

'Okay, that's it!' Squid suddenly snapped, stopping in his tracks and turning to Techno who was by his side all this time. Remaining quiet and, you guessed it, staring yet again! 'Cut that out!'

Techno stooped too, unsure as to where to put his teammate's irritated expression.

'Huh?'

'You were looking at me! It's creepy as fuck!' Squid explained, taking a big breath to calm his voice, making sure Noah didn't hear them. 'What do you want?'

'I was just thinking, man.' Techno replied. 'I took my ADHD meds today so my thoughts have been quieter than usual.'

Well, this wasn't what Squid was expecting. For the longest time he genuinely thought the ADHD jokes were just that. Jokes. 'You… you forget to take your meds?'

'I mean, I set a reminder but farming potatoes while anime blasts in my ears is just objectively more effective.' he explained as they began continuing their path. The group that they broke off from was quite far ahead at this point. They needed to make headway to catch up to them. 'Anime is just one of those things that makes my brain focus so I can farm. It's weird but I'll make do with it.'

'You are… insane. Mentally deranged!' Squid stated, Techno breaking out into an "evil" laugh. 'Stop that!'

'Okay' Techno simply said as he examined the big quartz villa in the distance. He clearly wanted to say something but chose not to as they continued to walk.

'Hey' spoke up Squid after a moment of silence.

'Hmm?'

'I think we should…' he sighed, kicking a pebble out of their way. 'Start communicating better if we're planning to win. You know, for charity and stuff'

'Agreed' the Blade nodded. 'Using my frustration against you wasn't as effective as I hoped it would be'

'Frist of all, what the fuck' Squid let out a whine. 'Second of all, I know you were an English major but don't make it sound so weird!'

'Mea Culpa'

'What?' a short snort escaped Techno at Squid's confused expression. 'Is that a fancy way of telling me to go eat shit?'

'Not even close' Techno responded as they stepped through the huge door made out of stripped spruce logs. Inside, a spacious lobby greeted them: marble floor covered in smooth light blue carpet, ceiling high above them covered in glass to see out to the beautiful blue sky, sparkling endrods paving out the way to follow a large dark oak staircase up to the second floor. Huge chandeliers floating seemingly in mid air, bellboys dressed in gold and navy blue uniforms carefully carrying luggages like they might break. To the left of them was a reception desk left empty, possibly due to their group being the last one to arrive, delicious smells swept through (what Squid assumed) was the dining hall while the right of them remained a mystery with its shut doors.

‘Okay, is everything clear?’ Pika asked as Squid stopped looking around. Techno next to him responded with a “Yep”.

‘Good, at least one of us was listening.’ Squid thought as he felt a light tap on his shoulder. ‘Huh?’

Techno flashed him a quick smile that Squid wasn't sure he was supposed to catch. ‘Race you to the room!’ then he took off, taking three steps at the same time as he ran up the stairs.

‘You–!’ Squid bolted after him, realizing only after Pika’s warning rang in his ears that if he lost Techno now, he did in fact not know where their room was.

‘Damn this guy, ugh–!’ he quickly rounded the corner, sharply following behind Techno.