Chapter Text
Technoblade was currently in the Nether trying to find Netherite since he was running low and had nothing better to do with his retirement. He had left early this morning, before the sun had even begun to rise, and it was now almost nightfall, but he still hadn’t found anything. He was currently armorless, having left his armor in a chest at the start of the mine. The Nether is incredibly hot, making it nearly impossible to wear the dark, heavy Netherite armor Techno had. And he wasn’t worried about leaving it behind since Nethern mobs rarely bugged him, and the beginning of his mine was sealed. Which is why he panicked when he heard something come up behind him.
Techno spun around sword in hand almost instantly. Usually, Technoblade is very proud of and happy with his knee-jerk reaction of violence, but he hates it right now when he sees Tommy flinch. Regardless of Tommy’s betrayals, he’s still Techno’s little brother, and Techno doesn’t want to scare him. Techno quickly puts his sword away and addresses Tommy. “What do you want Theseus, here to betray me again?”
“First of all, don’t call me Theseus. Second, You’re still hung up on that?”
“Of course I’m still hung up on that! I help you all lead a revolution, then you guys go and instill another government not even 10 minutes later. Then, months later when I finally trust you again, and you went back to Tubbo! The guy who exiled you! That chose his country over you!”
“People, are above the government Techno!”
“I’m a person! Discs aren’t people!”
“You’re a monster Techno!”
Techno felt pure rage, and a bit of fear, at those words. He spent his entire childhood being called that, tormented by that word. He spent years of his life trying to be free of that title, just for his own brother to do it. Techno knew he had no right to be mad at his brother, after all, Tommy had no idea what that word did to him. And yet, Technoblade felt himself shifting into his human form before he even consciously decided to do so.
In his human form, Techno looked nearly identical to Wilbur, brown hair and all. Them being twins wasn’t just a joke amongst friends after all.
“Is this better, Tommy?! Does this look like a monster to you?!”
Techno didn’t expect his outburst to scare Tommy. And he definitely didn’t expect Tommy’s broken whimper of, “Please don’t. I-I’m sorry. P-please don’t hurt me, W-Wilbur, I’m sorry.” Techno was taken aback. He had never seen Tommy so scared, and because of Wilbur, of all people, though rage quickly filled him. Wilbur had done something so terrible that the mere sight of him (or someone who looks like him) was enough to send Tommy into a full-blown panic attack, begging not to be hurt.
The voices were enraged. “Chat no, stop chanting ‘blood for the blood god’ I can barely hear Tommy. Shit, Tommy!” Techno was never good with emotions, but seeing as it was only him and Tommy here, he’d have to figure it out. “Ok, how do I calm down a panicking kid?” Tommy never took his eyes off of him as Techno knelt next to him. “Hey kid, uhm, you ok? Stupid question, uhm it’s ok? I’m here. I won’t let him hurt you. Chat, stop it, I will not kill him.” Techno tried to pull Tommy into a hug, but that only seemed to make him panic more. “Uh, ok, no touching then. Uhm, it’s me, Techno. What is it you always call me? Oh right, it’s me, The Blade or whatever, not Wilbur.” Techno attempted to reassure Tommy, but his breathing didn’t slow. If anything, it sped up at Wilbur’s name. “Uh, crap, why isn’t this working? What do you mean I need to change my form, Chat? I’m in my pig-crap, I’m still in my human form.” Techno stood up and shifted into his piglin form and quickly knelt back down next to Tommy. “Tommy, Toms, It’s me, Techno. See, I’m in my piglin form. I-I’ve got, uh, I’ve got tusks and pink hair. Nothing like Wilb-him.” Techno decided against using Wilbur’s name since that only made it worse last time. “Come on kid, please just calm down, it’s ok. You’re safe with me. I, uh, I won’t let anyone hurt you. Come on Toms, come back to me.” There was some desperation in Techno’s tone when he asked Tommy to come back to him.
“T-Tech?”
“Yeah Toms, it’s me, Tech. I uh, i-it’s ok kid, you’re alright.”
“S-sorry ‘bout that big man, I’m ok now.” Tommy stands up and brushes off his pants.
Techno stands up after Tommy, also brushing himself off. “Yeah right. You just had a full-blown panic attack and you expect me to think that you’re perfectly ok after that?”
“That wasn’t a panic attack Techno, I’m a big man, the biggest, and big men don’t panic.”
“Tommy, everyone panics, even big men.”
“Nope.”
“Tommy, am I a ‘big man’?”
“Of course boss man, you’re the biggest man, actually, second biggest, because I’m the biggest man.”
“Well, I used to get panic attacks a lot, still get them sometimes. So, can you admit that it was a panic attack now?”
“Fine you dick, maybe I had a panic attack.”
“Good enough. So, want to tell me what caused that?” Tommy’s breath hitched, so Techno quickly backtracked. “You don’t have to if you don’t want to kid, I’m, uh, I’m not gonna, like, make you tell me or anything.”
“In your human form, you-you look a lot like Wilbur, and it scared me,” Tommy said it so quietly as if he was afraid to be heard.
“Tommy, I need you to be honest, why did me looking like Wilbur scare you enough to cause a panic attack?”
“Wilbur hasn’t handled exile too well. He uh, he punishes me when I step out of line. It’s not his fault though! I’m annoying and need to be taught a lesson.” Tommy said the end of the statement almost robotically but rushed as if he was scared he said the wrong thing and needed to fix his mistake.
“Tommy, what does ‘stepping out of line’ entail?”
“Uhm, normal stuff. Like if I’m too loud, or talk back, or go against his plans. Or if I don’t take the punishment he originally gave me. Or if he’s just in a bad mood. Again, though, I deserve it. I’m annoying and need to be taught a lesson.” There it is again, the exact same wording in the exact same tone like he’s heard it so many times he can say it in his sleep. It angered Technoblade to hear his baby brother talk about himself as though being annoying reduced all his worth as a person. He wasn’t angry at Tommy, of course, but at Wilbur. How dare Wilbur make their little brother think he was worth nothing because he’s a bit annoying? But as it stands, he doesn’t have enough information about the situation to go after Wilbur yet, so he’ll have to ignore his rage (and the voices’ bloodlust) for the time being.
“And what do the punishments entail?”
“Uh, it depends. Sometimes it’s just making me skip a dinner, or some other meal or two, other times he kicks me out of the ravine for a night or two. If he can’t kick me out or keep me from eating for whatever reason, or if he thinks that’s not severe enough, he’ll hit me, or trap me in between two pistons for a couple hours. But honestly, it’s not that bad. I’m anno-”
“I get it, Tommy, you think you’re annoying and need to be taught a lesson, but that’s just not true, and you certainly don’t need to say it every time you answer one of my questions.” Techno cut Tommy off, not sure if he’d be able to control his anger if he heard Tommy say that he’s ‘annoying and needs to be taught a lesson’ one more time.
At that Tommy stands up perfectly straight and goes rigidly still. “Sorry sir, I just don’t want you to think that I’m complaining about punishments I deserve. And besides, it’s the truth. Wilbur says it all the time and makes me repeat it. Though if it bothers you, I won’t let it happen again, sir.”
Tommy calling him ‘sir’ reminded him too much of Phil. And If Wilbur is being remotely similar to Phil, then there are some serious issues. “First, none of that ‘sir’ crap. Second, you don’t deserve any of those punishments. No one does. Food should never be used as punishment or reward, neither should someone’s phobias. And no one should ever be hit by the person taking care of them. Third, it’s not true at all. I don’t care how much Wilbur says it, you’re not annoying, and even if you were that certainly doesn’t mean you deserve to be abused, Tommy. Sure, you can be a bit loud at times, and you say ‘big man’ a bit more than any normal person would, but you’re a good kid who all around just wants those he cares about safe and happy.”
Tommy’s posture relaxed slightly, and the faintest hint of a smile crosses his face, before returning to a carefully schooled neutral expression and stick straight posture again. One that Techno knows too well from his childhood with Phil. “I- you really don’t think I’m annoying s-Techno?”
Techno’s features soften at just how broken and genuinely surprised Tommy sounds from hearing a few genuine compliments. “No, I don’t kid”
“T-thank you. But anyway, regardless of if I deserve it or not, what could I even do about it? If I complain the punishments get worse, and it’s not like I can leave, I have nowhere to go and there’s no way Wilbur would let me leave.”
Tommy’s speaking had begun getting rushed and panicked, so Techno made sure to quickly reassure him. “You can come stay with me, I’m not letting you stay with him anymore.”
“B-but Wilbur’s the only family I have left.”
“No, he’s not. And even if he was, fuck him. Family doesn’t drag their younger brothers into war. I know L’manberg was your home and you wanted to fight to get it back, but quite frankly, I don’t care. Wilbur never should have let you fight in the wars. Your safety is more important than some damn country, or loyalty to family. And right now, for your safety, you can’t be with Wilbur. You shouldn’t have even been fighting in a revolution anyway, you’re 16, but that’s a matter for a different day.” Techno knew he and Phil weren’t around much in Tommy’s childhood, but he didn’t think Tommy would ignore their relation entirely. Techno made a mental note to talk about this and possibly fix his and Tommy’s relationship later.
“What about Tubbo and Ranboo? They’re hardly older than me. Or Fundy? He’s even younger than me.”
“I know.” Techno, in fact, did not know that. He knew Tubbo was young, but he figured Tubbo had a few years on Tommy. He thought Fundy and Ranboo were a good bit older. He made another mental note to deal with that later, but right now he needed to help Tommy “They should’ve had nothing to do with the wars, either. I know you don’t like to hear it, but you all are children who never got the chance to be kids.” Tommy scoffs at being called a child, but surprisingly, doesn’t make any further protest. Which might have been the most worrying part of this whole conversation. “Come on, let’s go talk to Wilbur. You will not be staying with him anymore, and I have a few… choice words that I need to say to him.” Tommy nods, and they head off towards the portal.
The trip back to Pogtopia was a relatively short one. It was only about 20 minutes, even on foot, to the nether portal Then about another 40 minutes on horse, or 3 hours on foot from there. Unfortunately, Techno and Tommy were not traveling by horse, so they had a decent walk ahead of them. And to make matters worse, Tommy was still pretty shaken up from his panic attack and wasn’t really in a talkative mood. Which was fine, panic attacks are tiring. It’s just that Chat doesn’t really like silence, and they decided to fill it with murder methods today. Which normally, Techno wouldn’t mind. He’s grown used to the voices and their murderous ways. Today though, Techno wants to at least yell at Wilbur before he murders him. But he’s not sure he’ll even be able to make it to Pogtopia without killing something. By the time they got to Pogtopia (thankfully with no murders on Technoblade’s part), Tommy was almost having another panic attack. Techno heard Tommy’s labored breathing and turned to him. “Tommy, everything’s going to be ok. I’ll be there the whole time. If we’re lucky, he won’t even be there, and we’ll be in and out without a problem, ok?” By now, Tommy’s breathing had calmed, so with a nod from Tommy, Techno broke the two dirt blocks that hid the entrance to the ravine, and they went in.
Once they got down the stairs to the ravine (which still didn’t have railings much to Techno’s displeasure), they saw Wilbur sitting at the table that sat in a corner. Techno heard a mutter of “So much for being lucky,” from behind him.
Techno didn’t want to take his eyes off of Wilbur in case he tried anything, so without looking back, He said “Tommy, go pack all your stuff, I’m going to have a word with Wilbur.” Tommy immediately goes to do so, and Wilbur goes to protest, but Techno stops him with a glare.
Once Tommy is out of sight, Wilbur Turns to Technoblade and asks, “Why did you tell him to pack his stuff? Is something wrong?”
“Well, Tommy told me some… interesting things after he panicked today. Now, why on earth would Tommy have a panic attack simply because he thought he saw you? I mean, I can certainly name a few reasons, especially after what Tommy told me, but I was hoping you could… shed some light on this. So, care to tell me why Tommy had a panic attack when he thought he saw you today?” Techno of course already knew the answer, but he needed to hear it from Wilbur.
“Wait, how did he see me? I’ve been in the ravine all day.”
“We got into an argument, and I shifted into my human form, which still looks nearly identical to you.”
“You shifted into your human form? I thought we agreed you would stay in your piglin form.”
“We made that deal when we were kids, and frankly, it’s not fair that you got to stay human. Now stop trying to change the subject. Why did Tommy have a panic attack when he thought he saw you?”
“I have no idea why he would panic at the sight of me, Tech. I’m just as worried as you are.”
“Oh really? So you know nothing about withholding food if he acts out, or hitting him, or locking him in between pistons when you know he’s claustrophobic? So you know nothing about constantly telling him he’s ‘annoying and needs to be taught a lesson’? You don’t know anything about this?”
“Look, he needs to be put in his place. He can’t keep acting like a child-”
“He is a child, Wilbur! For fuck’s sake, he’s 16! He is our little brother-” Techno had raised his voice, and was yelling at Wilbur now.
“He’s practically my son! Lord knows Phil wasn’t home enough to be a dad to him! He was always running off with his precious Technoblade!” Wilbur raised his voice in response, now also yelling.
“You know I never wanted to leave you guys! I hate him just as much as you do! He never saw me as his kid, he just saw me as his little fucking soldier!”
“He treated you like a saint. How dare you say you hate him as much as I do?!”
“Damn it, Wilbur, don’t you get it? Phil never wanted kids, he wanted fucking child soldiers, and I fit the bill! If I could, I would’ve stayed with you to raise Tommy! I hated our trips! I didn’t have a choice!” Techno’s voice broke a bit at the end.
“Of course you did. You could’ve said no! But you didn’t, did you?!”
“I tried to say no, and he told me that if I didn’t go, Tommy -4-year-old Tommy- would’ve had to go, and I couldn’t let him go through that.”
“Go through what?! Being loved? Having food every night? Learning to defend himself?!”
“Being treated like a soldier. Being lucky to have food once a week. Dying hundreds and thousands of times, using hundreds of totems.” Techno lowered his voice, he just sounded dejected now.
“Whatever happened to ‘Technoblade never dies’? Are you telling me that’s a lie?” Wilbur had a smirk on his face now, like he just caught Techno in a lie.
“You know why Technoblade never fucking dies? Because I’ve died so many times that there isn’t much of me left. I had to learn how not to die to keep what little bit of myself I had left. And most of my deaths are because of Philza. Hell, it’s Philza’s fault I even have fucking voices! He sacrificed me so he could get some fucking gold! So yeah, Phil treated me like shit too, but at least I didn’t turn out just like him.”
“What are you implying, Techno?” Wilburs voice now had a slight growl to it, and his smirk quickly fell, a scowl replacing it.
“I spent my entire childhood trying to keep Tommy from having to be a damn child soldier. But apparently, my efforts were in vain, because while I was trying to please Phil, you turned around and did the exact same thing! I’m implying that you are just like Phil, if not worse! I never fought in wars. I was never fucking vice president. Phil only ever had me. He didn’t fucking recruit other kids and manipulate them into fighting a war!”
“Oh, grow up! It’s not even that bad! Dream was a tyrant! We had to revolt against him! Shit happens in war! So what if I punish him?! The little brat probably exaggerated to make it seem like I’m the fucking villain!”
“You are the villain, Wilbur! You’re fucking abusive and make children, literal children fight for you! You’re the ba-” there was a small cough from behind Technoblade. Wilbur and Techno both look over to see Tommy standing behind him.
“Oh good, Tommy. Just the man I wanted to see. Technoblade here told me you said that I abused you and treated you like a child soldier. Now, why on earth would you tell him such lies? I’m your older brother. I raised you. Why would I abuse you? Why would I ever hurt you? Now, why don’t you apologize to Techno for worrying him and we can just forget this happened.”
“Tommy wasn’t lying to me, Wilbur. And it’s not up to you if he stays or leaves.”
“Oh but it’s up to you. You won’t let him speak to me, and you’re forcing him to leave.
“If he wants to speak to you, then he can. If he has something he wants to say, he can speak up. And I’m not forcing him to leave, he doesn’t want to stay.”
“Yeah right.” Wilbur looks at Tommy, who is now standing next to Techno. “Do you want to go with him? I’m your brother, I raised you, Technoblade was barely there. He was too busy having fun with Phil”
“Tommy, unless you have something you need to say to Wilbur or anything else you need to grab, then let’s get out of here.”
“No, let him answer me, Techno. Surely if you’re right, then him answering my question won’t do any harm. And if you're wrong, and he does want to stay with me, well, I’ll make sure he does.”
“Fine.”
“So Tommy, which is it?”
Tommy hesitates for a second, but then says, in a small voice, “I-I want to stay with T-Technoblade, sir.”
“Well then, I think that’s enough confirmation, we’ll be on our way now. And Wilbur, if you try to follow us, the voices have lots of ideas for a slow and painful death.” At that Techno puts his hand on Tommy’s shoulder and guides him up the stairs and out of the ravine.
Once they’re out of the ravine, Techno walks over to the stable he hid by the ravine, he was not walking all the way home if he can help it. He did, however, forget that Tommy didn’t know the stable existed. So he was confused when Tommy asked “Where are we going?”
“To the stable.”
“There’s no stable this way, or anywhere around here for that matter.”
“Heh? What do you mean? I built one right over here.” Techno could see the stable now, he pointed to it and said, “See, it’s right there. I told you about this.”
“No you didn’t, you never said anything about a stable.”
“Oh. Must’ve slipped my mind then. Whatever, you know about it now.” They entered the stable and saw Techno’s horse Carl and a dark brown spotted horse each in a large stall. Once they both mount the horses, Techno says “Alright, my house is about a day’s ride from here, so let’s just ride for a bit to put some distance between us and the ravine, then we’ll set up camp somewhere, sound good, Tommy?”
“Whatever you want works, sir.”
“First, please don’t call me sir, it reminds me of Phil. I’m not your boss. Second, what you want is more important than what I want right now. I’m fine with whatever, I just figured you’d want some distance from here before you settled down to sleep. But if you want, we can just set up camp here.”
“No! I mean, no thank you. I think it would be best to get some distance, but again, whatever you want works.”
“Ok, we’ll ride for like an hour east of here then settle down. And you don’t need to agree with everything I say or be all polite all the time. I won’t get mad at you or anything.”
“Ok.” Techno just sighed. He knew Tommy didn’t believe him, but hopefully, that will change with time.
They ended up riding for a little over two hours because one hour east turned out to be a giant, incredibly dense woods. Once a fire was going and a makeshift tent was made, Tommy and Technoblade sat around the fire cooking some chicken that Techno killed. While Techno was preparing the second chicken, he looked over at Tommy, who looked like something was bothering him. “You ok there Toms? It looks like you have something you want to say.”
“Uhm, back when you and Wilbur were fighting, you uh, you said something that kind of confused me.” Tommy seemed embarrassed and even slightly scared to say this, so Techno made sure to keep his voice and features even and soft.
“What did I say? Maybe I can clear it up for you.”
“Uhm, well, I heard you call me your’s and Wilbur’s brother.”
“I did say that, why is that confusing?”
“I don’t have another brother though. Wilbur took me in when I was a baby when he was 7, and raised me with him in an old, abandoned house, his dad used to own. So I don’t understand why you called me your brother.”
The fact that Tommy wasn’t even aware that he had other family hurt Techno more than anything. Up until this point, he thought Tommy just resented him and Phil for always being gone, which hurt, but Tommy would absolutely be in the right. But to find out he didn’t even know they were related, was beyond painful, and only made him have more resentment towards Phil. “Tommy, Wilbur didn’t take you in. Phil’s wife, Kristen, gave birth to you. You’re Phil’s son. And I’m your older brother. Wilbur and I are twins, that’s why my human form looks just like him.”
“But, that can’t be right, I don’t remember you or Phil.”
“That’s because Phil and I were always gone. Phil never wanted children, only Kristen did. Phil wanted to go on adventures, not settle down with kids. And that urge only got worse when she died when you were about 3. So when you were four, I was 10, He and I left for about a week. We came back and were only home for about 2 days before we left for a week again. Slowly we were out for longer, and not being at home for even 2 days anymore. By the time you were 10, we hadn’t been home in a year. We came home once a week after your eleventh birthday, but Wilbur wouldn’t let us see you, you were asleep, and he kicked us out before you woke up. We hadn’t gone home since then.”
“Why’d you go with him? You just let him go across the world traveling and you couldn’t even stay home to help me or Wilbur?!”
“Believe me, I wanted to stay home, but I didn’t have a choice. I tried to say no that first time, and a few times after that, but I couldn’t.”
“Of course you could’ve. You always have a choice Techno.”
“The first time, when I was 10, you were 4, he said that if I didn’t go he’d have to take you, that he couldn’t take Wilbur because he was already a lost cause. When I tried to suggest that he went alone, he called you down immediately and said that next time I suggested that, he’d punish you for it. The next few times went almost exactly the same. Thankfully he never hit you because I always made sure you and Wilbur were out of the house when I spoke to him about it. Finally, he got sick of me asking and made a deal with me. I’d always go with him on all his adventures for as long as I was his kid, no questions asked. In return, he’d leave you alone. He’d never try to take you on any adventures for as long as you live, and he’d never do anything to cause you harm. He made me take a blood oath, which is unbreakable. Of course, he changed the ‘if broken’ clause. Instead of me dying a slow and painful death if I broke it, you’d have to go on his adventures with him until you or he died. I didn’t know about this clause until later, otherwise, I never would’ve made that deal.”
“Wait, so you’re telling me that Philza Minecraft, the only good man ever, forced you to abandon me and Wilbur because he wanted an adventuring buddy? Yeah right. I’ll believe that you’re my brother, but do you really expect me to believe that sob story? You don’t listen to authority. You could kill Phil in an instant if you wanted to. If you didn’t want to go, you wouldn’t have.”
“How do you think I got to this point Tommy? How do you think I got the skill to be able to kill anyone I want to? Why do you think I hate authority? I wasn’t born with a hatred of authority and a sword in my hand. I was forced to become that.”
“Ok fine, maybe Phil trained you. I still don’t believe that he forced you to go with him.”
“How can I make you believe me?”
“Show me proof.”
Proof? What proof could Techno possibly show? Wait, he still has the scar from the blood oath. “Do you know what a blood oath scar looks like, Tommy?”
“Uh, yeah, I think so. Isn’t it just the word ‘oath’ in Greek?”
“Yep, with the deal branded on your skin below it.”
“Why?”
“You asked for proof, and I have proof. I can show you the scar. It’s on my collar bone.”
“Ok then, show me.”
Techno stands up and pulls off his shirt, revealing a scar on his collar bone. “That proof enough for you? It’s in my human form too if you don’t think it’s real. I can spot shift my chest.”
“What’s spot shifting?”
“Uhm, pretty much exactly what it sounds like. Instead of shifting your whole body, you shift a specific spot.”
“Cool! Wait, you and Wilbur can both shift right?”
“Yeah, why?”
“Then why do you always stay in your piglin form? most places hate hybrids.”
“When we were younger, Wilbur didn’t want people to know we were related, so he asked me to stay in piglin form so that we would look different. I agreed because I felt like I owed him something.” Techno usually avoided being vulnerable like this, but he figured that it would be the best way to fix his relationship with Tommy.
“Why’d you have to stay in piglin form? Why couldn’t Wilbur change form?”
“Wilbur had friends and a life in the town we lived in, and he didn’t want to be seen as a monster. He also didn’t want to scare you, so we agreed that since I was rarely there that it would be better for me to be the one to stay in my mob form. And I thought I could handle insults and being called a monster.”
“Is that why you got so upset when I called you a monster earlier? Because people used to call you a monster when you were younger?”
“Yeah. The title was a hard one to shake since I quickly became known for working with Phil and being ruthless. So of course, a strong piglin hybrid is a monster, whereas if a human was a good fighter, they’d be praised.”
Tommy was quiet for a second before saying, “I’m sorry that I called you a monster.” Techno was surprised at the apology. Tommy isn’t one to apologize unless he’s forced to or he really messed up.
“It’s alright kid. There was no way for you to know.”
“Ok.”