The first thing you saw when you woke up was the pink haired male in his normal form, leaning on the wall with his intense eyes staring back at you. Making you jump back at the sudden appearance with a yelp, clutching your blanket close to your body.
"Why are you standing there?" You asked after a period of silence, voice hoarse from sleep. Your throat was dry and you felt something in your cheek, immediately your hand shot up to wipe the dried substance from your skin.
You have long known that Techno wouldn’t even bat an eye at the drool that slipped past your lips, that man has interrupted your sleep for months and has seen you in your worst, you became accustomed to it.
"If I did anything yesterday as a wolf, I apologise." He said as he pushed himself off the wall, your eyes followed as he walked towards the slightly ajar door.
"If anything, you should apologise to Karl instead, you tackled the poor boy." The male then paused by the doorway.
"What is it?" You asked, throwing your legs to the side of your bed to stand up.
"That's the thing... I don't know why but..." He trailed off as he turned to you. "Schlatt, Karl, Quackity and Skeppy left last night."
"What?!" You exclaimed, immediately running out, pushing him off the exit. Regretting it as soon as the sunlight burned your eyes after being exposed to it so sudden. You shielded your eyes with your hands as you spotted Bad picking up the torches with his shadows.
The humid air that greeted you made you squint your eyes more, fearing that the wind might bring dust to blind you.
"Yeah, get ready, we're gonna try and find them." Techno spoke from behind you, you spun around to face him.
"How?" The look he sent you gave you an idea of what he's about to do.
Which is turning back to Technodog but he has more control this time.
He has better senses that way although he doesn't like it as much. Because he would cough out puffs of hair and get sleepy after which he fights back with coffee.
With that, you ran back to the cave which you noticed was almost empty with just your bed and armour on the floor. After equipping them, you run back outside to see that Bad is already ready with his troops called back and Techno standing beside him as a dog, sitting, waiting patiently for your arrival.
"Lead the way!" Bad exclaimed as soon as you reached them.
~~~~~~~~
In the middle of the exploration, you were able to spot a half buried stick on the sand that the three of you decided to follow after Techno sniffed out Quackity's scent on the item.
But it just led the three of you into a massive hole in the ground, an entrance to some ancient area.
You felt the intense aura that the place radiated so you turned to the necromancer and asked if he could send down some of his shadows to take care of the mobs beneath.
But Techno, still slightly influenced by the Alpha wolf living within him, jumped down as soon as he turned into a human. Performing a mlg water action before he marched into the darkness.
You turned to Bad with a raised eyebrow and he shrugged back. With that, the both of you hopped down to meet the pink-haired male only to be greeted by a scream of agony.
"Where did your friends bring those people?" Techno growled, his voice bouncing off the walls at how empty the place seemed. This alerted the both of you, making you sprint off to the area you heard the male with Bad lagging behind you as he lit a torch.
The both of you ended up in a dusty area, a lady was at least a foot off the ground as Techno held her up by the collar of her dress coat, back stuck to the wall. The woman seems to be in her twenties, her short toxic green hair pinned back by a white headband, eyes filled with fear and recognition as she looks back at Techno's intense stare.
"Da-David took them back underground!"
"Where is that underground?!"
You lose the sense of hearing around you as you stare at the carved ancient letters on a paper pinned to the wall. You stood beside Bad who's hand with the torch is hovering over the script, squinting his eyes and tilting his head as he tries to read it.
"Can you read it?" He asked as soon as he noticed your wandering eyes that went from left to right.
"Techno, we're on a monument!" You told the other male before turning to Bad. "Yeah, I can teach you too when we're all safe." You offered, making him smile.
"Thank you!" He said as you looked back at the script, trying to decode more for any information about the monument.
From behind you both, you heard something dropping to the ground and the sigh that Techno let out followed by his footsteps that were approaching. But you paid no heed to it as you kept on reading.
'Watch out for the Grimm that shall harvest your souls upon entering, avoiding him is a must but something is needed to distract a foul beast as he. Defeat the monster and power you shall receive.'
And you repeated that to your peers, and they listened carefully, eyes following your pointer finger that ran beneath the letters. Techno tried his best to translate the words up in his head, slightly excited he could read anything other than your books.
"What happened to the lady?" Bad asked as she spun around with his heels to find the female unconscious on the floor. He let out a gasp as he ran towards the body, immediately taking her wrist to check her pulse before opening her watch.
"She just passed out, she recognised me and got too scared." Techno nonchalantly explained, eyes drifting from the body and to the iron door.
"But she did tell me where we can find them." He added. Bad pulled out a health potion from his inventory, something he gained after the raid on a tower. It was the last stock with Karl away.
"What's the plan now?" You asked. To be honest, you'd rather retrieve the gang and then enter the monument at a later date. Who knows how powerful the opponent is.
"We should go get the four first" Bad suggested as he pulls out a pillow for the female to use.
Techno pulls up his inventory before opening his map, you then turn to Bad who slowly rose to his feet. Stretching as soon as he was upright.
"Let's go." Techno said as soon as he closed his hologram.
"Where are they by the way?" Bad asked as the both of you followed the pink haired male out of the monument's entrance.
"It's that far from here, it's called 'Town of the Lost'. Whoever named that must be lame" He said as he pulled out his crafting table to create some ladders to escape.
At the same time, Bad saw a stone button on the wall that almost went along with the cobblestone. His attention focused on it.
"Oh! A button!"
And before anyone could stop him, he pushed the button. Techno and You could only wait with bated breath, wondering what it'll cost the three of you because Bad couldn't keep his hand to himself.
There was a click that resounded in the area, you looked at Techno who did the same, his eyes wide but it didn't capture yours for too long when the ground beneath opened up. Gravity occurred and you started falling, your heartbeat erratic and so is your breath, fright suddenly flooding into your system as you let out a shrill shriek.
Bad screamed as the three of you fell when he felt something cover him, his eyes widened as a dark misty particle formed a protective circle around him. Suddenly, everything stopped.
He can still feel that he's still away from the ground, with the walls around him, he was unable to find any clue what was happening.
It was a foreign magic, he may be a newbie with his abilities but he's sure as hell that this is not his doing.
He then noticed the silence that crept into the area. If it wasn't for his minions hidden in the others' shadows, he would've thought they were separated from each other, but even with that, he still wanted to know if they're really there and how far they are. There's nothing more valid than a vocal confirmation.
"You guys ok?!" Bad screamed, and it didn't take long before the others replied.
"I-I'm fine!"
"Still alive!" Techno responded, his eyes scrutinizing the material that's surrounding him. Hand shooting out to touch it but his hand only passed through the item.
The orb started to disappear slowly as he felt the solid ground beneath him. He watched as the particle fades into the dimly lit area then his eyes fell to your figure. And like an automatic response, his gaze landed on you, eyes coming from the top of your head and to your feet, trying to find anything concerning before observing Bad.
"Where are we?" Bad thoughts out loud, slowly spinning around as he tries to find anything that could help him answer his own question. Techno could hear some whirring sound and a muffled song playing from somewhere.
"The girl mentioned something about a faster way, maybe it's this?" Techno's voice lowered as he watched Bad approach a hole with only one block height.
"She didn't tell you where exactly?"
"She was panicking too much, and then passed out." Techno shrugs as you follow his gaze to the cloaked figure that crouched in front of the hole.
"There's a tunnel."
"Send a shadow to check it first." You suggested as you approached the male, squatting beside him. It didn't take long when the shadow returned with information.
"We can go through here" Bad confirms before being the one to crawl into the tunnel, soon followed by you.
The hole reeks of wetland and has piles of dust on the ground. After using one palm, you would shake your hand off of the dust, the texture felt disgusting on your skin and you want to get rid of it as soon as you touch it.
A song was playing in the background, a jazz one that sounded like something that came from the 40's. It became more audible the more you approached the light at the end of the tunnel.
[BGM: I don’t want to set the world on fire - The Ink Spots]
Soon, Bad was able to escape the confined space. Stretching his body as soon as he was free. You let out a groan as you were able to leave the hole, Techno following almost instantly. Popping up beside you, startling your soul out of your body.
"I don't want to set the world on fire..."
A soothing voice echoed in the area as you looked at the town beneath the slope the three of you were currently in. It was a medieval themed city in an underground ravine, designed with cobblestone and leaves hanging from the ceiling. There's barely any light where the three of you were currently in, and it was much brighter by the outskirts.
"I just want to start a flame in your heart..."
"Guys look!" Bad whisper-shouts as he holds out a ripped paper in front of the two of you.
Your eyes widened as you saw the big, bold red words of 'Wanted' on top of a messy sketch of someone familiar, similar to the male standing beside you. His skeletal mask, messy long hair and the white sleeved shirt, every needed detail was there except the small crown that sat on top of his head.
"There's a lot of them!" He then pushed a couple of copies into your hands, but it held different characters, like the white masked male in a hoodie, someone with a white bandana around his forehead.
Before you could even check the other sheets underneath the two you were currently seeing, Techno snatched them out of your grasp making you look at the paper as well.
With just one look on the striped bucket hat, you already identified the person as Phil.
"Phil's also here?"
"Seems so..." Bad responded as he waited for Techno's reaction.
"I guess it's nice to be wanted..."
Techno said as he stared at his illustration in your hands.
"Not by the law!" Bad shrieked, surprised by his reaction. His hand then swiped the papers from their hands and hid it in his inventory.
"What if you remove the crown and mask?" You ask, turning to the male beside you before Bad looks away from his inventory to speak his thoughts out. "And the fancy cape."
Techno looked at the both of you with disbelief, you were asking to remove his trademark crown and mask. That was too much, you are his friends but this is stepping out of the line, you are asking for a lot and he's nothing but a mere mortal man.
"That's too much to ask for" He said before continuing "Besides, with my pink hair, they will still recognise me."
You then turned to Bad with a ghost of a smile that made him raise an eyebrow back at you. It didn't take long when a thought crossed over in Bad's mind that made him shake his head in which you responded with a pout.
Techno could only watch as the two of you try to understand each other with just actions.
"What are you doing?" The pink haired asked with knitted brows.
"No," Bad firmly denies, briefly looking at Techno before his attention comes back to you.
"Come on, you can do it right?"
"I have done many things in life but being a barber is not one of them." Bad spat back, that alone made Techno take a step back.
"No, you are not going to mess with my hair, No I refuse."
"It's the only way. Techno is known to have a long luscious mane." You argued back, not realising what you just said about the other male's hair but the man in question just sent you a questioning look.
"Besides it'll grow back fast, didn't you remember the glump incident?" Bad's eyebrows furrowed as his eyes jumped between the both of you.
"What happened-"
"Nothing happened," Techno denies almost immediately, "We can just walk into the area, if the lady above was scared of me what are the chances of the others fearing me?"
Bad won't argue because he has a point. Everyone fears him because many recognise him as one of the best PvP players.
In the end, the three of you descended the hill and down to the city. Bad made sure to pull out some of his strongest soldiers to walk in front and behind them, even with the title the pink haired male have, he has this uneasy feeling that they'll get themselves in trouble later.
When the three of you stepped into the area, you noticed how everyone stopped to turn and face your little group. Their eyes widened, filled with either fear or relief. You don't understand why some have the latter.
"Is that Technoblade?"
"Are we finally gonna get saved?"
"Guys I think that's Techno!"
"They all recognise you here..." You pointed out in a low voice. Hushed exchanges barely heard, drowned by the jazz song playing softly in the background.
And after a couple of beats of silence, Techno's head snapped to his left where he heard rushed footsteps as someone barreled through the crowd, a familiar color of blue as the person's skin.
"Bad!!" Skeppy cried as he ran towards the group, jumping at the cloaked figure who flushed red at the sudden action.
"Where's the others?" You asked the blue male who's still attached to his best friend like a koala.
"Is that you Techno?" Someone with a squeaky voice asked, making the male turn to the smaller figure standing a few meters away from him, eyes jumping from him to the skeleton who's bow is pointed at him.
"We'll try and find the others, I'll leave the soldiers here." Bad told Techno before he walked away with Skeppy and you beside him.
"Yeah it's me, any problem?" Techno asked as he stared down at the other male.
"Are you here to save us?" Another voice asked from the crowd but this time baritone, making Techno turn to him.
"Save you from what? You guys looks like you can handle yourself pretty well."
"Orcs under the rule of the king kept us here" The smaller figure answered, stealing Techno's attention.
"King?" He repeated, confused. He's served time in the game for nearly two years, yet this is the first time he's heard of a monarch.
God... government again...
"He-he-"
"What's happening here?!" Dead silence invaded the area as their heads turned to the direction where Techno came from. He felt the ground shake as loud footfalls resonated in the city making the whisper-shouting start once more.
"Quick hide the blade!"
"Hide him!"
Techno jumped slightly when he felt a small hand wrapped around his own. His eyes traced it back to a frightened child that stared back at him.
Then, the trembles stopped coming as people started to hold their breath. Techno knew what was happening yet he still bothered to turn around and face his opponent.
All he could see was green and the torn brown pants made with animal hides. Something wet dropped on his head, starting a fire inside him. His breath labored as he slowly looked up to meet eyes with a pair in glowing white, jutted jaw and two visible incisors curved up.
The orc didn't even have the chance to speak when the assigned shadow soldiers pounced on him, alerting the cloaked male miles away from the city circle.
With a thundering roar that followed the shocks Bad felt in his body, he pushed Skeppy and Y/N to find the others so he could go back and make sure everyone in the middle was safe.
Techno immediately bent down to take the child in his arms before jumping away from the incoming axe about to slice him in half. He saw a dark matter dissipate into the air where the axe was buried deep in the concrete before handing the child to an unknown man whose hands were open towards him. He then spun around by his heels, unsheathe his sword.
And with an exhale, he swiftly sprinted towards the orc who was occupied by the respawned soldiers. When he was near enough, a cry left his lips as he swung his weapon towards the orc's meaty thigh.
But the monster suddenly disappeared, leaving crumbled pieces of concrete as it leaped high. Techno panicked as he searched around for his opponent, noticing the large unusual size of his shadow, he looked up, eyes widening as he watched his opponent fall with an incredible velocity that he doubts would leave enough time for him to leave.
Then from out of nowhere, a pair of arms then wrapped around his waist as a solid figure behind him suddenly appeared. He watches as the scenery in front of him changes, from the streets to the rooftops.
On high alert, he immediately spun around to find a slender enderman figure in a misty figure. It was one of Bad's soldiers.
"Techno what's happening in there?!" The man himself asked through the creature in front of him.
"An orc came, I'm sure there's more. Try and take their shadows! They're kinda OP!" Techno said as he started to run towards the edge of the building, kneeling as pull out his crossbow.
He loaded his weapon with fireworks as he aimed for the confused orc beneath him. Bad's soldiers long gone as he fired his shots, loud whistles of fireworks pierced through the tense atmosphere before loud bangs came as pink particles exploded, blinding his enemy before he equipped his sword back. Jumping from the edge with the hope of landing on its back.
And it seems the gods were listening.
With a cry, he plunges his sword deep into the monster's nape, liquid colored in purple squirts out of the cut as he forces the blade further into the monster.
The ground lightly shook as the body flopped to the concrete. With no rest, he then sprinted to the direction where you left with Bad and Skeppy. A bad feeling settling in the pit of his stomach.
On the other side of the town, Quackity pushes the civilians away from the fight with Karl while Skeppy and Schlatt try to get a couple of hits on the green orc. Becoming a distraction as you climbed the two story building behind the monster.
Not even taking a rest when you reached the top, you ran towards the edge while you took your bow out, aiming for the orc's nape. But before you could let go, a sharp pain spreads from the back of your head making you cry in agony.
This made Karl spin to his heels to see a hooded figure holding you by the hair. He pulled out his bow in haste, even snapping the string on his arm as he rushed to ready his shot.
"Surprised you still haven't killed your friends..." A ghostly feminine voice whispered into your ears, sending shivers down your spine.
You attempted to kick the person's feet but it moved before you could even land a hit so your hands went back to hold her wrist before twisting it.
"Or maybe you haven't activated it... It’ll be dangerous if you keep suppressing it..." She continued, unfazed by your actions as cold and long fingers started to crawl up to your temple at an agonizing pace. You groaned as you tried to untangle the fingers in your hair.
"Oh you did! But only minimal..." The person said, disappointed as she tuts.
Karl watches as you froze when the fingers cupped your forehead. He felt his heart drop to his stomach, panic settling as his hands shook when he noticed the dark matter building up around you.
Then suddenly, with an ear piercing scream, the bubble of dark mist exploded. Sending everyone flying back from the force. Techno yelped as he slammed into a light pole, falling to his knees later on.
Silence settled as Karl pushed himself from the ground, ignoring the ache in his bones to immediately look for you, helping Quackity up on the way.
While Skeppy lets go of Schlatt, a sharp hand lodged deep into the ground that kept them from flying back. Alerted by the immense power spike, Bad started running towards his friends. The orcs he was previously fighting were already lifeless, he needs to see every single one of you. He'll take their souls away later.
You were still on your knees as you felt every energy in your system fade away. Black spot crawling into your vision as it unfocuses, an annoying ringing playing in your ears.
Your head then tipped down, with your whole body following next but before you could even kiss the concrete, a pair of arms held you back.
"Y/N?" Karl's distorted voice calls out as echoed footsteps come while he gently settles you down, before shadows hovered above you.
"He-hey, you ok?"
"'m fine... jus' tired.." You weakly responded. Their voices got lost as the ringing intensified.
Your eyelids fell as you were pulled back into the darkness, but before you passed out and entered the void of nothingness, a voice that felt familiar, gravely and dark whispered in your ears. You knew deep inside you that you came here before but you cannot, for the life of you, remember when.
"Welcome back darling..."