Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Even though Technoblade had retired from his time on Skyblock for the Dream SMP, he still voted for a new mayor when he could, because why not? It was, after all, his right as a Skyblock 'Citizen' to have a say in such things, despite being a well-known anarchist.

Technoblade entered the main hub, gazing around at his surroundings. It had changed since he had played last; the buildings had shifted, and he could see new players and villagers in every corner. But still, it was Skyblock, and in a way, home. He spent months on end, plotting and farming to beat a college student in the same main hub he was standing in. He fought alongside his best friends against blazes and bosses far more powerful than himself on this very server, and he had battled poor orphans in auctions, and yelled at TimeDeo for wasting all their savings on stupid items.

It was home. His home.

Technoblade recived a notification, and he promptly opened his chat to see that TimeDeo had also logged in.

"Hey man, hows it going?" TimeDeo asked Technoblade as he walked- no, flew towards him.

"Good man, just going to vote, how are you?" Techno responded, smiling up at Deo.

They both started roaming around the hub aimlessly, while catching up with each other. They both enjoyed spending time together on the server every once and a while, especially since it had been about 2 years since they both went their seperate ways. After the Potato War, Technoblade took his chaos elsewhere. He bounced from server to server until he settled in the Dream SMP. There, he managed to blow up the same nation twice, escape death numerous times, and become the most feared player on the server. Deo, on the other hand, stayed on Skyblock, and devoted his entire career to bug hunting. After a while, Simon and the rest of the Hypixel staff team realised he could do more for them as an admin rather than a player, hence the flying around. Still, they occasionally met up for Skyblock events, updates, and, just like they were doing today, mayor elections.

"So, who are you voting for?" Deo asked Techno as they both made their way to the Community Center.

"Mmmmm, surprisingly enough, Barry. I mean, its not like he's any good, but I'll do it for the memes," Techno replied.

"Barry?? I mean, I guess it makes sense for the memes and stuff, but he's come in dead last EVERY YEAR! Plus, wouldn't you want to vote for the new guy? I think his name is Dante," Deo said.

Technoblade looked at Dante's statue, sitting in the middle of the election booth. The new man running for mayor was unlike the others. While each of the mayors wore some fancy outfit relating to their perks as a mayor, Dante's statue was different. His brown hair was mostly covered by a navy green army hat, with a golden seal on the front. His outfit matched his hat as well, the same green on his suit and pants, and gold buttons covering the front of the shirt. Something about his seemed weird.

"He is so transparently evil," Techno said, then he put on a face and saluted while continuing, "'I will stabilize this rapidly declining system....PERMANANTLY'. I'd take 15% more alchemy experience over whatever THAT is any day!"

"Yeah I suppose so."

"Why are you taking so much interest in the elections this time around?" Techno inquired, as he turned away from Dante's statue to face his friend. Deo gave a proud smile, before responding, "Simon is taking a break for a while... going to some next server to spend time with his family and stuff. He's appointed me as temporary owner for the next while!"

"Deo, thats wonderful!" Techno exclaimed.

"Yeah, I'm pretty pumped about it. Anyways, I should probably get going, Simon said he would show me and a few others the inner workings of the server, and I don't want to be late," Deo said.

"See you later man!"

As Deo logged off the server, Technoblade looked back at Dante's statue. Skyblock had plenty of special mayors: Scorpius, Derpy, and even Jerry, who was honestly a little creepy. But none of them gave Techno the chills like Dante did. He approached the statue, and his eyes rested on the list of policies in front of him.

"Establish security, freedom, protection.... what is this bullshit," Techno mumbled.

He stared the statue in the eyes and said, "You know Skyblock players aren't dumb, right? No one is going to vote for you."

He walked towards the ballet, and grabbed a slip of paper from the clerk Seraphine. He quickly scrawled his name on the slip of paper, and deposited it into the ballet. Because he voted, he was now able to see how many votes the other candidates got.

"Looks like Barry isn't coming in last place this year.... And Dante has 91% OF THE VOTES????"

Chapter Text

Surprisingly, Technoblade had almost forgotten about Dante throughout the week after the election booths had opened. After voting, he logged back onto the Dream SMP, where he hung out with Philza in the arctic, and helped Ranboo better understand their powers. It didn't matter that Skyblock was screwed when he was having the time of his life running around Dreams server collecting spawners and gathering building materials for Philza. Of course, this peace didn't last, and when he got a notification from TimeDeo about Dante, he immediately set down his spawners, and went to read it.

TimeDeo: Techno???
TimeDeo: TECHNO????
TimeDeo: @technothepig
TimeDeo: Bro
TimeDeo: ehlp
TimeDeo: help*
TimeDeo: The people on twiter are pissed at me
TimeDeo: They're saying its simons fault for dante getting elected
TimeDeo: And because I'm filling in for simon
TimeDeo: THEY'RE MAD AT ME
TimeDeo: It's been like 4 hours since dantes been elected
TimeDeo: And hes going CRAZY bro
Technoblade: What do you want me to do, how can I help?
TimeDeo: Idk man, dont interact w the ppl on twiter
TimeDeo: Just log onto Hypixel, and make ur way to sirius's house
TimeDeo: A few other youtubers r gathered there
Technoblade: Ok

Technoblade quickly fed Steve, then logged off the Dream SMP. He then entered Skyblock, and the minute he did, he tensed up. Something wasn't right....

Maybe it was the lack of players in the streets, or the abundance of non-players (guards, goons, workers???) stationed around every building. Techno looked up, and saw that the sky was grey and dull. Maybe it was that.

Techno cautiously took a few steps forwards, taking in his surroundings. Any festive lights were removed, and the place was barren, but other than that, everything looked in place. The bank, the Bazar, The Community House, Farmhouse, everything. All right in front of him.

So why did everything feel so... off?

"So... How are you guys?" Technoblade called out.

Silence.

"Not much for talking are we? No, no one?"

Silence.

"You know, a tumbleweed just crossed by. A few crickets to-"

One of the masked men approached Technoblade, but instead of saying anything, he held his palm open. Technoblade looked up and got a closer look at the mask he was wearing: The base of the mask was a dull grey, and scratches were littered across every corner. The outline of a hat was at the top, and it was eerily similar to the hat that Dante was wearing in his statue. But the worst part? The actual face was in the shape of a smile, a happy, care-free smile.

It was almost as though Dante felt the Skyblock population owed him their happiness.

It made Techno feel sick.

The masked man hadn't moved from his position and was staring at Techno, as though he was expecting something.

"What do you want," Techno asked.

"5000 coin fee for talking repeatedly," The masked man replied

Technoblade was stunned. So stunned, he just laughed awkwardly. The masked man continued to glare at him, until Techno realized that he wasn't joking.

"I'm getting fined for.... talking??" Techno said.

"Well now you're getting fined for talking AND disobeying orders. 25000 coins," The masked man responded in a monotone voice.

"Look, I have to go, I'll pay this later... or something..." Techno stuttered as he attempted to walk away from the man.

The man followed him, and said, "If you intend on travelling more than a distance of 50 blocks, you are required to wear a happy mask, or you will have to pay travelling taxes of up to 10000 coins per block,"

"A what???"

The masked man reached into his inventory, and pulled out an item for Technoblade to see. He grabbed it out of the man's hands, and observed it. It was the same mask everyone around the hub was wearing: Grey, bleak, military, and on the front was that damn smile. He flipped it over to the back and etched into the mask were words. On the right side, it read:
Order
Security
Freedom
#DanteBest

On the left side it read:
This mask belongs to: pvp_pro3829

"You may purchase one at the Community center for about 500,000 coins, as this one is my personal back-up one," The masked man said, as he reached to take it back.

Techno could feel his blood boiling, and his face getting redder. What kind of sick joke was this??? Who could call this freedom?? And who did this dictator think he was to come strolling into Skyblock, to make it hell??

He had always been an avid government hater, and this was one of the reasons why.

"Fuck you and this mask," Techno sputtered has he threw the mask onto the floor. The item shattered into pieces on the floor. He quickly started to walk away from the chaos of the hub and into the forest as the man behind him called out, "THAT IS A 40000 COIN FINE FOR DESTROYING GOVERNMENT PROPERTY! 900 COIN FINE FOR PROFANITY! REMEMBER TO PAY. YOUR. TAXES."

Technoblade sprinted into the forest, leaves crashing behind him. He ran across the bridge, and onto the path that weaved through the trees and the bushes.

The forest was truly beautiful. Everywhere, there were little flowers and plants, and tree's that reached up towards the skies. Wisps of fairy remains, colourful and bright filled the air, and reflected off of every body of water. The fairy lake was covered in lily pads, which were the tools used by many creatures throughout the forest. All around were tree houses scattered above, with emerald walls and beautiful oaky interior. Usually, players would be walking on this path, maybe to see the scenes, but most likely for quests or other adventurous activities. Yet again, it was barren, and as Techno dashed through the path, he felt unsafe.

He felt unsafe, in Skyblock, his home.

He reached Sirius's house eventually, and at first he was a little scared he wouldn't be able to enter. Sirius would only open his door on the 55th minute of every hour, and Techno didn't want to have to wait for another 20 minutes to enter the house, but when he arrived, the door was ajar. He made his way to the basement, where he found the dark auction room.

The room was like it always was: Glowstone which was lined all across the perimeter of the floor lit up the room. The space was lined with dark oak and the walls made of sturdy cobblestone. Little leafy plants sat on the sides of the rooms, and a huge stage was present at the back of the room. What was different, however, was the absence of the small seating areas, and the appearance of a large table in the middle of the room. And of course, the many people seated at said table.

Everyone in the room stopped their conversation to turn and look at him. Techno's face turned red; he was NOT prepared for social interaction of this magnitude.

He recognized most of the faces. A few of the people were those who worked on Skyblock. The mayors all sat on one side. Marina in her usual swimming getup waved (PUN INTENDED) at Techno, Diana gave him a small smile, and the griffin on her shoulder cawed. Scorpius gave him a wave as well, then punched Finnegan on the shoulder, who, like Techno, was very introverted and hadn't made an effort to wave at him. Cole was mid conversation with Aatrox, who was scraping the dirt from under his fingernails with a sword. In the middle of the Mayor's side was Seraphine, who looked as though she had organized everything. One of the chairs on that side was empty

On the other side of the table were youtubers he was friends with and when they saw him, they all greeted him very enthusiastically. TimeDeo, Powliner, and Squid Kid all went up to him and greeted him. They walked him over to his seat, which was next to ThirtyVirus. Thirty gave him a wide smile and a nod as Techno took a seat at the table. He noticed that on the youtuber's side, a chair was also missing.

"Ok, we have almost everyone I think, so let's get started. This meeting is to discuss Dante, the dictator who has taken over Skyblock. In the past few hours, his policies have caused immense rage across the Skyblock population, no one wants to play, and are taking to Twitter to complain," Seraphine started.

“The issue is, with Simon away, we have no way to do anything serious. Even as youtubers and possible mayor's, we have little to no power. As a Skyblock mayor, Dante has access to all of our systems, and he is the only one who can contact Simon. Deo, do you have any way to talk to anyone on the dev team, or any way to access the system?”

Everyone turned to TimeDeo, who was shaking his head.

“I got no power, uh, Simon erm.. doesn't exactly trust me… as much as I would uh, um, wish-” Deo mumbled.

At that moment, two figures ran into the room. One of them they recognized as Foxy, another Mayor candidate. His face was flushed, he was covered in sweat, and it looked as though he had been running. Beside him was Pigical.

"Sorry we're late, we got held up by some goons. Asked them what they were doing to the fisherman's hut, and they fined us over and over again for 'talking back'" Pigical said as he took his seat.

“It's alright, we were just talking about our potential options. Dante has been doing much revamp to other places, not just the fisherman's hut. Maybe our mayor candidates have some information? Anything you can tell us?” Seraphine asked.

All the mayors looked at each other, until Diana raised her hand.

"Simon trusts Skyblock mayors with connections over almost everything; Dante has unimaginable power. Since Dante has been in office, he's added taxes to everything: NPC shopping, Bazar orders, Auction purchases, walking, talking, everything. And this is only the tip of the iceberg; if he really wants to make the Skyblock population suffer, he can do anything he wants, and without Simon here to keep him in check, I am worried he might. Diaz has gone undercover as one of Dante's goons, and she's heard a lot of stuff. She says he has plans to cancel events, cancel areas of the maps, break connections with the dwarves, and even cancel the sun, whatever that means" Diana informed the group.

"Good," Seraphine said, "A person on the inside will help us greatly."

ThirtyVirus raised his hand, then said, "I think we should find a way to get in contact with Simon immediately. We don't want Dante to go to extremes and have no help, and I think Simon wouldn't mind his family time being interrupted with something like this."

"I agree," Scorpius chimed in, "I also think we should launch, I don't know, and attack or protest. Dante needs to be put in his place."

"I disagree with that, we have no way to know if Dante is actually dangerous, and launching an attack might provoke him. He may just be doing this all for the memes or something," Powliner commented.

"But then how will we get Dante out of office? It's not like we can just ask him nicely"

"Yeah, but attacking? That's too far!"

The voices started to overlap, as everyone argued, trying to make their voices heard among the crowd.

"Everyone CALM DOWN," Seraphine yelled. The room fell silent.

"I get this is confusing, we have no direction from any reliable authorities whatsoever and I know that this is stressful. But we, as youtubers and mayor electees should be able to talk about this like reasonable adults," Seraphine said.

"Wait"

All heads turned to Technoblade.

"If Dante is the mayor, we can just vote him out of office in the next elections, right? We should start planning all this stuff, yeah, but also his term only lasts a bit. We'll just boot him out of office," Techno said.

Everyone in the room started to nod. It seemed like the most reasonable solution; wait for the next elections, and prepare for anything, but don't set anything into motion.

"Ok. I think we have a solution then. Everyone alright with that?" Seraphine asked. Murmurs of assent filled the room.

"Right then. This meeting is finished," Seraphine said. She picked up her stuff and started to walk towards the exit before stopping.

"Don't tell anyone about this meeting.

And pray for each other this next while.”

Chapter Text

For Technoblade and the rest of the Skyblock population, the next few weeks were simply hell.

Despite not bothering to keep up with Skyblock for the past few years, Techno found himself logging on daily. His friends in the Arctic empire wondered where he went for hours on end, and Techno knew that Apollo was probably barking and growling for him to come back.

But he simply couldn't.

Techno wanted to stay in the loop. He wanted to know what was happening, even if every time a change happened, he felt like ripping his skin from his body. Even if every announcement from Dante made him want to bang his head against the nearest wall until he forgot about Skyblock entirely. Even if every new addition to the notice board outside of the community center had him clenching his fists, digging his fingernails into his palms until he drew blood.

Seraphine held a few more meetings in this span of time, mainly just to compile information gathered by Diaz and other spies. She specifically told everyone to not start conflict; do not instigate any violence that would make them seem like a threat. Of course, everyone knew she was directing her words at Techno, and rightfully so. Techno was so incredibly close to snapping Dante’s neck that he had to physically restrain himself. But in the end, Techno knew he would have to wait this out, any form of physical violence would endanger everyone involved in a possible revolution, and would compromise the safety of the meetings. Dante couldn’t know what they were doing.

Speaking about Dante, he had watched how his new tax system had played out in the Skyblock community. After seeing the opposition to such egregious fee's he raised them. Bazar tax went up to 20 percent, NPC tax went up to 25 percent, and worst of all, the Auction house tax went up to a whopping 35 percent. Similarly, the taxes for walking and talking doubled, and Dante and his goons forbid anyone from entering stores or buildings without wearing a Happy Mask. As well, Dante continued on his 'make everything look depressing' regime, as he drained the color from all the Hub buildings, set the biome of the Hub to 'desert', and reduced the fish on the Fish Merchants stand to mere bones.

Of course, like any good leader, Dante took to making new changes.

The first of said changes, which was enough to have Technoblade lying in the middle of his potato farm, screaming for hours on end, was removing events. When autumn approached, unlike in the previous years, no big pumpkin appeared near the portal in the hub.

"Halloween... It simply is not stable! Think about all the spooky mobs that spawn everywhere, eager to brutally murder unsuspecting players. Such events are dangerous and should be ERADICATED."

When the snow started falling, contrast to how it had been before, no new island opened, and no Jerry appeared.

"Presents pose a security concern, yes, but what is even more dangerous are the Magmas a player is forced to fight on the wretched island of Jerry! Christmas is a threat to the freedom of Skyblock, and is too dangerous to keep around!"

Even the guy who would come and sell the citizens of Skyblock pets disappeared.

"Pets are violent and unpredictable. Worse is buying them from a random man who tells everyone he is hosting a 'Trading Zoo'. This event is causing the players to lose their values, it is too dangerous."

That's all it was with Dante, wasn't it? Precious Dante, and his precious fake concern for Skyblock? The danger??

Walking and talking in the hub with friends?

"Dangerous"

Slaying monsters and defeating bosses?

"Dangerous"

Participating in community wide events?

"DANGEROUS"

Everything that made Technoblade feel alive, safe, made him feel like everything was okay?

It was all fucking dangerous.

—

“And then, he goes and cancels HALLOWEEN, *huff* says it's fucking dangerous or some bullshit, *huff* yeah well the only thing that's dangerous, Dante, is the fist that's going to be flying towards your face if you keep on adding stupid laws,” Technoblade yelled between breaths. His fist smashed the punching bag yet again, as he vented out all of his thoughts. His face was red and sweaty, his clothes were drenched and his fists were red.

Because he had decided to take a break from Skyblock for a few days, Technoblade was training in the Syndicate room on the Dream SMP. The room truly was a sight to see, thanks to Philza and Niki's excellent building skills. Ashy black stones covered the walls of the room, yet were encapsulated by a warm orange glow from the various lava pillars around the perimeter. Of course, the molten magma wasn't the only source of light in the room; tens of hundreds of lanterns were scattered above, shining onto every surface. In the middle of the basement was an elevated platform made from dark oak, lined with stone and fences. And at the very heart of the room was a repurposed end portal, which now served as a table for the members of the Syndicate to use. The punching bag was a little away from the platform, where Niki Nihachu sat, listening to Techno's constant venting.

Techno gave the bag a few more punches, until he unhooked it and put it to the side. He wiped the sweat off his face and went to sit next to Niki on the platform stairs.

“Sounds to me like Dante is like every other government supporter: power hungry. Only difference is he's acting on his thoughts,” Niki said as Techno sat down.

“It's just,” Techno hesitated, trying to find the right words, “It's just that this all infuriates me. Dante is imposing his government rules and harming my friends and I can't do anything. I am utterly powerless. I feel trapped. So incredibly trapped. It's killing me, Nemesis. Gosh every since this whole ordeal has started I've wanted to pull Dante into an alleyway and smash every bone in his body, snap every little finger on his hands, and make hIm beg, beg me for merc-”

“It's ok, Protesilaus, I get that,” Niki replied softly, but sharply, cutting him off.

“You know full well that I've also wanted to take revenge on a government who was hurting my friends, right? But I waited, and I did it at the right time. You need to hold your horses. It will be ok eventually.”

Eventually

“You’re right,” Techno said, getting up to leave, “The election booth should have opened right about now, so I'll go and place my vote to get Dante out of office, I guess.”

Techno quickly logged into Skyblock, and made his way over to the Community House. He ignored the goons at the front door yelling at him to wear a happy mask as he approached the teleport pad into the voting booth.

“Stupid goons expecting me to wear a happy mask,” Techno grumbled, “why would I wear a happy mask if I'm not exactly happy…”

He entered the voting booth and walked up to the ballet. He grabbed a slip of paper from a goon who was in what should have been Seraphine's spot, and scrawled his name on it. He went to place his vote when he saw the candidates.

Candidate #1: Dante
Candidate #2: Dante
Candidate #3: Dante
Candidate #4: Dante
Candidate #5: Dante

It was all Dante.

Techno was absolutely seething. He could feel his heart rate start to pick up, as his face grew redder by the second. He could feel his hands curl up into the fists he had known so well, as he tried to keep himself calm, and contained. He knew he was hyperventilating, and he knew his attempts at composure were futile, but he tried anyway. He could feel his blood boiling, the injustice and unfairness of everything settling beneath his skin.

He could contain himself. Seraphine wouldn't want him doing anything rash anyways.

“Sir, if you want to be in this establishment, you are required to wear a happy mask!”

…Fuck Seraphine.

Technoblade punched the goon on his right, which alerted the attention of the other goons in the room. They all ran forward, trying to land an attack on Techno, but he was too strong. Contrary to popular belief, Techno's hair and tusks were not the result of cosmetics. He was half pig half human, meaning that the pink tint to his skin and hair was completely natural. Another perk of being half pig is the strength; Techno plowed down the goons, and turned towards where the teleport pad was. Instead of leaving, though, he turned left and up the stairs on the side of the room that led to the Mayor's private study.

He quickly knocked out the two goons guarding the door, and went inside.

The study was… magnificent. Techno stood in a grand room, spruce covering the walls, and stone lining the wood. Above him was a giant chandelier that radiated light like Techno had never seen before. The floor was masked by a large, elegant rug, which almost reminded Techno of the ones he would find in mansions. Bookshelves were laid against the walls of the study, and were filled to the brim with classics. The far wall was non-existent… because it was a large window. That window led out towards the mayor's balcony where the elected person would stand outside and give their speeches. As of now, it was covered by a large black drape, blocking all natural light from entering the room.

And smack in the middle of all this was a table, and sitting at it, was Dante.

“Technoblade! What an honor! I'm sorry for not setting up a meeting sooner, but I had the feeling you would come on your own. Please, sit,” Dante said, smiling. He didn’t seem very surprised that Techno was there, nor did he seem very concerned about his goons bleeding on the fancy carpet outside.

“I’d rather stand,” Techno said coldly, “We have to talk, Dante, and if you don’t want to do that, we can skip to the part where I smash your head into this table.”

Dante put his hands up in mock surrender, an amused smile on his face.

“Now now, don’t do anything you would regret. Are you here on Seraphine's orders, or did you decide to come here all on your own?”

Techno froze. What did he know about Seraphine?

“From your face, I’ll assume you came here on your own. You look surprised,” Dante commented, “Seraphine has been very… vocal in her opposition of I and my plans for a free Skyblock.”

Techno chose his words carefully, “As she should be. ‘Free Skyblock’ free my ass. What are you getting at Dante? What do you want from Skyblock?”

Dante’s grin grew ever wider, “I want what is best for the Skyblock population? I understand that you oppose that, considering you are in on the Revolution. Why is that?”

How did he know about the revolution??

“You know full well you couldn’t care less about the playerbase,” Techno hissed, “I don’t know what you know, I don’t know what you’re planning, but I will beat you, that is a threat, that is a promise.”

Yeah no, Seraphine was NOT going to be happy with him.

“You can try,” Dante said, “But I doubt you’ll get far. You’re just a man, Technoblade.”

Techno growled, and made his way to the door. He was DONE with this.

“On your way out, Technoblade, please, take a Happy Mask on your way out. You won't have to pay, it’s on the house,” Dante called out.

“I would rather fucking die.”

Chapter Text

“You did WHAT???” Seraphine yelled.

ThirtyVirus was in yet another revolution meeting, and honestly, it was getting a bit boring. That was, until Techno announced how he had royally screwed up and called war on Dante. That turned a few heads for sure.

Thirty didn’t really know how to feel about Technoblade. For one, he admired the Player. He was one of Skyblocks OG players, and he had made history on numerous occasions. Everyone had heard the tales of him slaying the strongest dragons, and defeating the most powerful bosses. And of course, the tales of the Potato War were still told to this day.

Thirty was well aware of the fact that the game had changed since the blood god won against Squid Kid. The grinds were getting longer, and the impossible to obtain 500 million Potatoes that Techno was known for back in the day was simply the standard for Skyblock players nowadays. Thirty had put in over 6000 hours onto his profile, with no help from the outside at all. He had worked relentlessly, day in and day out all by himself to become in the top 99 players of all time. Technoblade had done no such thing. Most of the grinds he would do back in the day were 4-5 hours max, and he got most of his items from auctions or co-op members.

So maybe that's why, instead of feeling happy when looking at Technoblade, he felt a little bit jealous.

I mean, even after the kid had left Skyblock, he could just waltz back in, screw everything up, and people would still call him the greatest player of all time. Today, the achievements that made Technoblade a god were the requirements for any early game player, and even though Techno may have done it first, a little part of Thirty couldn’t help but think he was better. Of course, ThirtyVirus kept his conflicting feelings to himself because feelings didn't win wars.

“Do you have. Any. idea. What. you have. Done.” Seraphine continued. She had been yelling at Techno for over 10 minutes now, and while it was funny to watch at first, now it was just really really annoying.

Techno sat on the other side of the room, a very guilty expression on his face.

“But it doesn’t matter anymore. Even though you screwed up big time, you told Dante what all of us were thinking. But now, we have to find a way to deal with this mess,” She said, then sighed.

“So we ARE attacking Dante?” Scorpious asked.

“We aren’t strong enough for an attack,” Thirty said, “We have no resources, limited people, and no power.”

“Then what do we do?” asked Finnegan.

Silence filled the room until Seraphine said, “We make ourselves strong enough for an attack. We revolt in secret, and grow in numbers and resources, and once we are strong enough, we strike.”

ThirtyVirus glanced around the room, and was shocked to see everyone nodding their heads. He knew Dante wouldn't be easy to convince, but he didn't expect the dictator would take kindly to an underground revolution. Surely they could wait until Simon was back from whatever holiday he was on. Surely they didn't have to resort to what could end in violence.

“Okay,” Cole started, “how do we start recruiting people?”

“I have access to forums for the player base that Dante can't see. Slowly, our operation should spread to the entire playerbase” Deo stated.

“How do we know the players won't snitch on Dante?” Foxy asked.

Dragoon gave a small laugh and replied, “Dante is messing with a bunch of endgame players' rates! If there is anything a skyblock player with far too much play time hates, it's a bad mayor messing up their useless grinds!”

“Wait,” Thirty started, “if 200k Skyblock players all, I don't know, start flocking to the end island, or the catacombs to get top of the line gear, Dante will just shut it down!”

A few ideas were shot around. Pigical suggested making a bridge to the end island island, Aatrox thought it would be possible if everyone logged on in the dead of night, and Dragoon tried to talk about a long-winded overly complicated procedure which would involve each player to repeatedly log in and out of the game.

“Okay, so we can’t get to the end island, we’ve established that. Could we get to the Catacombs, however? They’re underground, and on the main hub, Dante would never know what we are doing!” Seraphine suggested.

Cole looked up, his eyes wide as he started to excitedly speak, “We could! The catacombs have an entrance underground, we would just have to dig a tunnel there! And, if new people were to join the revolution, then we could use the materials to make more space for them!”

Slowly, everyone got sorted into groups. Most of the other youtubers except for Pigical, Technoblade, and a few others were selected to work with Timedeo on ‘propaganda’ for the rest of the Skyblock playerbase. Half of the mayors were set to work on digging and planning a route into the Catacombs, while the other half worked on communication, leading, and other miscellaneous, yet needed tasks.

ThirtyVirus moved over to where TimeDeo was, and watched as everyone started to plan and talk. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Techno approach Seraphine hesitantly, probably worried he was going to get yelled at again.

“You, uh, didn’t call my name… ma’am,” Techno asked in a low voice; low enough for most people not to overhear, but not quiet enough for Thirty.

Seraphine looked up at him and responded, “You’re right I didn’t.”

Techno looked at her expectantly, and she just sighed.

“You need to take a break from Skyblock, it’s stressing you out. Just go back to the DSMP for a few days. Also stop calling me ‘ma’am’, you’re only a year younger than me,” she said.

As she walked away, looking more unbothered than ever, Techno stood in the same spot, very lost. Thirty felt a little bad for him, but a little nagging sensation inside of him was saying that Techno deserved to be left out.

Whatever.

Regardless of what Thirty may think of the revolution, or of Technoblade, war is on.

Chapter Text

<1 and a half months later>

Despite being dead, Mort loved his job.

It was just so funny, watching adorable little combat 15 players enter the Catacombs, and immediately run out, disheveled, bloody and bruised.

As the dungeon keeper, he should work on making sure the little non’s came out alive, but honestly he couldn’t care. He gave them all the resources they needed; just like he had been given when he took on the challenging mazes. Although he did die… maybe he should be kinder to the players.

Yeah, no.

Mort stood in his spot, guarding the oak gates, like he had every day. He knew the room he was in by heart— the walls were built with an array of beautiful grey stone, fancy carvings and cuts present everywhere, mixed in with hints of rich dark oak that lined every pillar and shop. Ophelia who was to the left of him waved, as she cleaned out the inside of yet another potion bottle. She carefully set it down, as she reached for a book on the shelf behind her, her hair practically glowing under the red candle light. To his left was Malik, who was wiping his overalls with a wet rag. His skin was wethered and he had too many wrinkles to count, but he was stronger than most, and able to weld a sword out of almost everything.

Slimy skulls, maybe even older than Mort hand from the roof. They were a reminder to all: Do not underestimate the Catacombs. If you do, you will be pulverized at the least.

The normality and the familiarity of the place he worked kept Mort sane. Both of his friends were human, although sometimes, when following his routine, he forgot he had died millenia ago. He felt alive.

As Mort continued staring at the wall behind him, he noticed the tile on the other end of the room was shifting. He abandoned his post, and walked towards the spot, curiosity getting the better of him. The cleverly cut stone started to develop cracks around it, and Mort stared as it finally broke, revealing,

“AYEEEEE Mort, my guy! Man, it’s Aatrox from the elections and stuff, y’know?”

Aatrox and a few others exited the little tunnel in the floor, and pooled into Mort’s dungeon one by one.

“Is this about Dante?” Mort asked. He knew that eventually, people would come to him for help, he just wasn’t sure when, or how. He didn’t predict this, though.

“Yeah mate, Dante’s been going crazy. We’re just here to make sure you haven’t given in to his demands, and may also be here to send a bunch of newbies into your dungeons to gear up,” Foxy said.

As the younger kid kept on chattering about his plans to defeat Dante with a secret revolution, Mort just smiled.

Because he felt more alive than ever.

—------------
<1 and a half months prior>

“So, group,” Cole said as he stood in front of the mass of people who were all selected to work on the tunnel, “Despite what the Skyblock population thinks, you can, in fact, mine the blocks on the hub island. Issue? It takes forever, because we’ve all been given infinite mining fatigue. However, the effect isn’t given constantly, in fact it’s only given every 2 minutes. So-”
“IF WE DRINK MILK EVERY TWO MINUTES WE CAN TOTALLY DO THIS!!!” Foxy interrupted loudly, smiling. The boy was one of Cole’s favorite mayors — he was happy, bubbly, and unapologetically himself.

“Exactly!” Cole replied.

“Wait, I’m lactose intolerant-” Aatrox said.

“Shut up Aatrox, no one likes you,” Marina replied.

Cole pulled out his pickaxe and shouted, “LET'S START MINING!”

Nobody moved.

“Cole… we don’t have any pickaxes! I mean, all of mine are in my backpacks, and Dante disabled those weeks ago!” Foxy said.

“And how are we going to get milk, we can't all march over to the farming islands with 6 stacks of buckets each!” Finnegan asked.

“Also, that was super cringe, Cole,” Marina remarked.

Cole thought for a moment before saying, “Well I have a few spares.. but it won't last. First, let's work on bringing some cows to the island, and then we'll work on going to the Crystal Hollows and stock piling on, I don't know, a few Pickonimbus’s.”

Everybody nodded, it seemed like a plan. So, Cole took Finnigan, Sirius, and Foxy to the Dwarven Mines, while Marina and Aatrox went to kidnap some unsuspecting cows.

The group exited the forest, and headed towards the town square. They all made sure to wear Happy masks, and stay silent; they couldn’t afford to do anything out of the ordinary.

Skyblock looked worse than Cole thought. Everything was so… grey. Of course, as someone who worked in the mines religiously, Cole wasn’t a stranger to a colorless landscape, but outside? Trees weren’t supposed to be leafless, the buildings weren’t supposed to be dull and covered with propaganda, and it certainly wasn’t supposed to be dark at 12 pm!

They walked over to the coal mines, and approached the person in the happy mask, and soldier uniform at the side.

“Papers, please,” the soldier said in a monotone voice. Each member scrambled to pull out their 50000 coins travelling fee, entry permits, and identification. The person took a while, carefully scanning each and every document for discrepancies, just waiting to… Cole didn’t know. Ban them off the server? Tax them even more? Did Dante create a jail they would go to, should any of their forms be out of order?

As Cole stood silently, he tensed up, waiting to run, or to fight. However, the masked man handed back their papers and said in his same flat voice, “Welcome to the Gold Mines.”

Cole breathed a sigh of relief, and he heard the others do the same. He got onto the jump pad, along with the other three, and they made their way to the gold mine.

They carefully walked down the abnormally large set of stairs, past Rusty the Janitor and when they reached the entrance to the Deep Caverns, Cole was surprised to see there were no guards, nor fee’s; they could just walk on by.

“Well, that's convenient!!” Foxy proclaimed.

When they reached the Deep Caverns, Cole’s anxiety grew. Despite following all the rules they had to, it felt like they were doing something wrong. It felt that at any moment they were going to be in trouble.

‘We’re doing this for the revolution. They don’t need to know,’ Cole thought.

All of them had unlocked the lift locations, so they stood in it while the Lift Operator lowered the little slab of wood, down and down into the mines.

“Ya know, ever since that Dante guy took over, all this stuffs been goin’ straight to hell, eh? Bastard has stationed all these goons all across me mines, and players don’t wanne come ‘ere any more,” the Lift Operator remarked as they descended. Cole was surprised at how forward the man was about Dante’s tyranny. Most people just stayed silent, or complained on Twitter.

They made it to the Obsidian sanctuary, where they could finally enter the Dwarven Mines. Cole’s idea was simple: explain their situation to the Dwarven Kings, and be given a bunch of Pickaxes to use, and maybe even a few workers. However, all of these plans came to a stop when they saw two goons outside the lift.

“Papers, please,” one of them said. Again, they handed all of their documents, and stood there anxiously.

“Sir you are missing a document,” the goon holding their papers said, “Please, step aside.”

Cole could feel his heart rate start to pick up, beads of sweat begin to form on his face, and he became aware of his legs trembling ever so slightly.

“Sir, let me take him,” The second soldier said, locking eyes with Cole.

Cole let himself be taken to the side, and instead of hurting him, or arresting him, the goon leaned forward and whispered, “It’s Diaz. Just act like I beat you up or something, and let you off anyways. And don’t forget your documents again, doofus, you're going to get us caught!”

Cole could feel his soldiers relax, and he shuddered a sigh of relief.

“Gotcha, thanks,” he whispered back.

And so, he stumbled back to the rest and mumbled, “we’re good, let’s go,” as he exaggeratedly held the side of his face, wincing and groaning so the other goon wouldn’t suspect a thing.

Finally, they made it to the Dwarven Mines, the place Cole spent his time the most on the server. Large terracotta and granite pillars lined the stony walls, adding much needed color to the dark mines. Along the walls were torches, which illuminated against every surface.

Surprisingly, Cole didn’t think that the mines were touched by Dante’s regime. As the group marched through the Dwarven village, he saw his friends and workers happily walking along, getting up to whatever. He waved at old man Gary who was working on event schedules, and he even made a stop by Fetchur, making sure to bring him 50 emeralds. In fact, as the group turned left and onto the bridge, the only thing that was out of place was the number of players in the mine.

Cole, Finnegean, Foxy, and Sirius entered the castle, and made their way up another bunch of abnormally large stairs (what was it with mines and large staircases?) and finally reached the head table, where all of the seven kings sat. Right now, the man in the large throne was Redros, who was busy jotting down notes of the commissions he needed done.

“I cannot believe we have a disagreement over this! None of these commissions are being completed because of Dante! We mustn't side with him,” Redros shouted to the other 6 kings.

“And are you ignoring the benefits of such a regime? The order and security, the idea that we will no longer have rascal players invading our mines??” Thormyr exclaimed.

“Excuse me,” Sirius said, as he walked up, cutting off the argument, “May we ask for your assistance?”

“If you want us to support Dante, we will do no such thing!” Erren yelled, banging his fist on the table.

Across the table, Brammor laughed.

“Erren, you are not making the decisions for all of us! I personally think Dante is a breath of fresh air for us ALL.”

“I'm sorry, but what is going on!?” Foxy asked loudly.
Redros stood up and explained, “Dante has asked the Dwarves to side with him. Doing so would ban players from entering our island, and much more. I fear it should be as simple as telling Dante to, pardon my French, fuck off, however the other kinds seem to be brainwashed!”

“Well we have come here to request a few Pickonimbus’s… for a mining operation,” Cole said, carefully choosing his words. He didn’t have to tell them what the mining operation entailed.

“Very well. We can provide you with such resources, however beware: if we decide to make an alliance with Dante, we will no longer be able to be associated with you,” Redros said.

The group took their pickaxes, and quickly left. As they made their way back, Cole reflected on what he just heard.

Dante was trying to… take over the Dwarven mines, and by proxy, the Crystal Hollows. The Dwarves, which thrived and lived off commissions from players would be cut off from the rest of Skyblock, and Cole, who made an effort to keep mining as a simple community activity for everyone, would become obsolete.

All his work, towards mining fiestas, and all his time and effort into the skill he thought so highly of.

Obsolete.

Now, Dante’s tyranny wasn’t something Cole could just ignore. Yes, it was hurtful when he saw his friends and fellow mayors have what they loved taken away from then, but now?

Now it was personal.

Cole came back to the Basement, where he already saw renovation happening. On the big table were buckets of milk, placed by Marina and Aatrox, along with a huge map of the Skyblock Island. Cole took one look and the drawing of a tunnel, with coordinates beside it. He took a glass of milk, and downed it in one.

Then he found the coordinates, and he broke the first of many blocks, marking the start of Operation Tunnel.